Racing to the light (Modern AU)
by Plasma Snow
Summary: Hiccup Haddock, an odd high school boy. Fostered after the death of his father Stoick, and best friends with his racing dragon Toothless. New family, brothers and sisters, and the romance of Hiccstrid (Him and Astrid). Will Hiccup be able to find his way and be able to move on with his life despite his pain, learning to show love? "Yeah, yeah, Not all soldiers survive the war."
1. The story starts

**(A/N) Hey readers! Plasma snow here! So I finished 100 fan shots and figured I had better write another story and my ideas down because letting my mind wander is never a good thing.**

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 **Here's a quick introduction to Hiccup's story.**

 _Hiccup Haddock is not your average boy. He's in high school, incredibly smart, a dragon racer, and he's the only child of his father who fights in the war. Once Hiccup finds out his dad died on the battlefield, he suffers the loss and deals with it the best way he knows how. Dragon racing becomes a stronger passion than before, he works constantly on his grades, and in all Hiccup becomes a little more isolated from the public, moving to an old wooden house to be housed by a foster family despite insisting he could fend for himself until reaching 18. The foster family takes him in as their own, and Hiccup is stuck attempting to bond with a family that's not his. The Wingden's adoptive son Fishlegs Ingerman and adoptive twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut becoming his siblings. Luckily the family loves dragons as much as Hiccup does, and allows him to keep his racing dragon Toothless._

 _Now as the story starts, Hiccup is living his new life, trying to find out exactly how to get by. Be warned sadness and hardships always come with these things, but light can be at the very end. Join Hiccup in this deep romance and adventure filled fanfiction, loaded with family, hurt/comfort, and most of all the bond between Hiccup and his dragon. Will Hiccup ever be able to get back on track in life? After all, he's only sixteen and trying to live as a foster kid with a dead father and mother to the best of his ability. The slight medical problems he deals with such as his left amputation sight constantly giving him trouble don't help much either. Maybe with help though...maybe._


	2. Introducing Hiccup and Toothless

**(A/N) This chapter might be a bit short, for it's mostly just starting the idea of the story. Please leave a review!**

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 _ **It was dark all around him. Hiccup was in his room, shivering because his heater was broken and it was snowing outside. Toothless purred, pulling his rider closer to him. Hiccup sighed in relief, glad his best bud was here to help him when he needed it.**_

 _ **Hiccup felt alone. He was only fifteen just turning sixteen. His mother died when he was just a baby, and Hiccup never managed to remember much of her. He had a stuffed dragon toy with his name in the side of it, but that was about it.**_

 _ **Hiccup's father wasn't around either. Stuck fighting in the war against other countries, a hero to his son. Originally Stoick had started fighting in the war so his wife's medical bills could be paid. After she died though, Stoick continued not only fighting, but paying less attention to his son.**_

 _ **Despite this, Hiccup still loved his father deeply. He wasn't good at getting attached to people or trusting them, used to only being hurt by others. Sure he was a bit skinny and small, but Hiccup didn't deserve the hate some people showed him.**_

 _ **Despite not always acting like he cared, Stoick did care for Hiccup more than anything. Hiccup smiled to himself, pulling his blanket over his shoulders as he slept in the corner with Toothless. His father was stern and intimidating. Despite this he was also protective of Hiccup, and gave him a friend to hold onto.**_

 _ **Hiccup's eyes drifted closed as sleep caught up with him. Suddenly though, a knock was heard at the door. Hiccup ran downstairs after strapping his prosthetic on, not bothering to change out of his shorts or pull a shirt on.**_

 _ **Hiccup was expecting his dad to be home, for he always came home just before Hiccup's birthday. What Hiccup saw though made his stomach churn. Two men dressed in camouflage war outfits and large capes stood at the door. One of them was Gobber, a close friend of his fathers and a fighter.**_

 _ **The other looked more stern unlike Gobber who looked upset. He seemed to be trying to appear stoic, but you could tell he was upset. That's when Hiccup squinted his eyes through the darkness, and saw the more stern man holding the barbaric Archipelago flag in his hands. On top of the flag was a note with his and his fathers names on it. Attached to the note was a golden pin shaped like a Thunderdrum dragon.**_

 _ **Hiccup's heart sank and he looked up at the men with tear filled eyes. A conversation he once had with his father sparked his mind. Hiccup was ten at the time, and Stoick was holding that very same pin.**_

 _ **"When I go, I want you to take this and carry on my legacy Hiccup. You may not know it now, but I know you have great things in store for you." Stoick had said in an oddly gentle voice compared to normal standards. Hiccup threw the pin back at his dad, putting his face in his hands.**_

 _ **"But I don't ever want you to go." Ten year old Hiccup said, trying to keep from crying. He'd lost one parent already, and the thought of being orphaned terrified him. Stoick smiled warmly, kneeling to his small sons height.**_

 _ **"Son listen to me. I'm not leaving right now, but no one can live forever. You know that. The war...it's a dangerous place. Don't worry, I'm making sure I fight hard enough to come back home to you, but I'm just saying one day I want you to have this to remember me by." Hiccup shook his head, looking up in anger and refusing to take the pin.**_

 _ **Stoick sighed, giving his son one of their rare hugs. "Fine, i'll keep it with me until your ready for it. I love you Hiccup." Hiccup smiled, burying his face in his fathers fur cape. "I love you to dad." Hiccup said softly as the memory ended.**_

 _ **Gobber knew Hiccup had gotten the message seeing his fathers pin and told the stern soldier next to him. The second soldier handed the flag, note, and pin to Hiccup who accepted it with shaky arms. He had went pale, and Toothless had ran downstairs to comfort his rider, nudging Hiccup affectionately.**_

 _ **Gobber drew in a shuddering breath, laying a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup, my boy, you know that you can't just stay here." Hiccup looked up with fear filled eyes. He'd dreaded this conversation for to long to count, but eventually believed it would never happen.**_

 _ **"I'm fifteen Gobber. I can handle myself with the money I make from racing." Hiccup insisted, but Gobber sighed. He looked to the second soldier who seemed to have an easier time keeping his emotions under control.**_

 _ **"By law you have to be in custody of an adult boy. I'm sorry, but we're going to stand by you. Gobber has agreed to let you stay with him until we can find someone else." Suddenly everything went mute to Hiccup.**_

 _ **He was scared and felt cold. Hiccup felt shock, and he tried to yell for his father, but nothing came out. Hiccup breathed heavily, and suddenly his flag, note, and pin were ripped away from him. Hiccup reached out, begging the universe to let him read his fathers last words from him. Everything turned dark though, and Hiccup yelled in anger and sadness.**_

"No!" Hiccup sat up in bed, holding his chest as it hurt from nearly hyperventilating. Tears pricked at Hiccup's eyes, but the boy refused to let them fall. If it wasn't for Toothless cooing worriedly beside him, Hiccup feared he would have lost it thinking he was in another nightmare.

Hiccup swung his legs over the side of the wooden bunk bed he shared with Fishlegs in their room. Thank the Gods he hadn't woken his adoptive brother, and only Toothless. Toothless nudged Hiccup, trying to comfort his rider and best friend.

"Y-Yeah I'm okay bud. I'm sorry." Hiccup looked around his and his 'brothers' small room. In the right corner near the door and under a window was Fishlegs' desk. The boy was in tons of extra curricular studies and had work littering it his side of the room.

In the left corner of the room they'd decided was Hiccup's space was Hiccup's desk. An electric blue desk lamp sat in the corner, and stacks of books littered the top along with new designs for Toothless' tail fin. Hiccup kept his blacksmithing supplies in the garage.

Standing up Hiccup walked to the spinning chair in front of his desk. Their foster parents hadn't made the division rules, but Hiccup and Fishlegs found it best. It was simple, Hiccup got the left corner, left side of the room, and bottom drawer of the bunk bed to keep his stuff. Fishlegs on the other hand got the right side, right corner, and also got a space for a tote to keep supplies in which sat near the head of the bunk bed. Hiccup got bottom bunk thanks to his disability.

Speaking of which Hiccup hissed in pain as his amputation sight on his left leg started giving him problems again. Some people could get a prosthetic and learn to work with it like normal. Hiccup on the other hand was one of those people who developed infection after amputation, and it still left lasting effects in him despite the car accident with his father being nearly six years ago when Hiccup was eleven.

Toothless looked down at Hiccup's prosthetic, imediatly sensing what was wrong. Hiccup smiled, petting his racing dragon and best friend. "I'm okay bud." Hiccup looked at his alarm clock and sighed. Of course it was already 5:30 AM giving him one an hour and a half to sleep at most. Today was Thursday, so at least the weekend was close.

"We should get some sleep." Hiccup finished his previous conversation with his dragon, using Toothless as a sort of crutch to limp back to bed. Despite the commotion, Fishlegs still slept like a rock. Hiccup knew this was because Fishlegs was used to having to sleep through noise, previously having a father who constantly fought with his mother and living in an area prone to storms.

Now that he lived in this more calm house with their foster parents, Fishlegs was able to sleep through just about anything. Hiccup pitied the boy, his mother was the most sweet woman Hiccup had ever met, but his father killed her right in front of Fishlegs with a gun. Despite this though, Fishlegs was still kind and never thought to hurt another living soul other than his father of course. His Gronkle was just like him.

Hiccup smiled wile looking up at his adoptive brother who was nothing like his other adoptive siblings who were actually twins. Their names were Ruffnut and Tuffnut, odd I know. They were fostered because their mother never cared what they did, yet hurt them when they got into trouble. It was her fault she wasn't involved and left them to fend for themselves mostly.

When the twins' mother's boyfriend came into the picture, he abused Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Their previous mother never joined in, but never stopped it, even going as far as to say she never wanted kids like them in the first place. It was no wonder the twins were quiet the trouble makers, up until they were fifteen a year ago they had nothing to ground them to reality, and no one to show them that by following rules people will like you.

Instead, Ruffnut and Tuffnut never had rules established and therefor thought their parents were simply hurting them for the fun of it, as if they were pure mistakes. This led to that train of thought often causing the teens to say something such as "Well we're already born screw ups, why try to change now?" Ruffnut wasn't really as violent as much as she was chaotic. Tuffnut on the other hand literally threatened to _kill_ anyone, especially men, who tried to hurt his sister. They'd both been sent jail twice for a year each time before authorities realized what was going on.

Hiccup didn't have a life like Fishlegs who's mother died and father was a criminal. He also didn't have a life nearly as bad as the twins. Hiccup's situation was different. Valka, his mother, died shortly after child birth thanks to the stress of a child causing her drug problem to come back into play. This led Hiccup to think he was a mistake for years. His father on the other hand did love him, but was hardly ever around. It was only after his father died that Hiccup was forced into foster care, no one taking into consideration he had practically raised himself because his fathers lack of presence do to war.

Trying to clear his mind Hiccup plopped down on his back, his legs hanging off his overly firm mattress. Toothless grabbed the end of his riders already lose prosthetic, gently placing it beside the bed. Hiccup smiled, petting Toothless' head when he lay half his body on the mattress.

Within maybe ten minutes, Hiccup fell sound asleep to the sound of their night light (Fishlegs had a fear of the dark thanks to his experiences) which produced the sounds of the ocean. Hiccup never covered up, so Toothless moved once he was asleep, pushed Hiccup's legs back onto the bed, and pulled the blanket over his rider who clutched it tightly in his hands with a smile. Toothless jumped out the window, running to meet with Meatlug and Barch who slept in the stalls outside. Meatlug was a giant Gronkle, Fishlegs' dragon. Barch was a two headed Zippleback who belonged to Ruff and Tuff.

 **(A/N) Hey guys! So how do like the story so far? I know it's a little sucky in the beginning, but I'm working on it. I do promise this, I'm trying to make this one more fluid and detailed than my other stories. School starts back on the 4th of January, so when that comes updates might be a little bit slower.**

 **Until next time fellow dragon riders, like if you enjoy, follow if your new, review if you have something to say and Plasma Snow peace out!**


	3. Fishlegs, Hiccup, and the twins

**(A/N) Well fellow readers I'm back!**

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 **Beep. Beep. Beep.**

"Augh it can't be morning all ready can it?" Hiccup asked no one in particular as he sat up. Fishlegs still remained sound asleep, causing Hiccup to chuckle. "Hey brother! I think it's time for school!" Hiccup shouted to his fellow fostered teen. Fishlegs turned over, but did nothing more.

With a sigh and yawn, Hiccup stretched, pulled on his prosthetic, and walked to his desk so he could turn off the obnoxious alarm clock. You see their was yet another thing that differed Hiccup and Fishlegs in the mornings.

Growing up Hiccup had always had to get up considerably early so he could get things done around the house. After school he couldn't sleep, but instead had to go to work. Unlike Fishlegs who was always afraid to stay in the house because his father, Hiccup had to take care of the house on his own from a young age with his father at war.

Hiccup had to be a light sleeper, but Fishlegs had learned to sleep over yelling his hole life. "Fishlegs common!" Hiccup shouted. When that didn't work, Hiccup smirked with an idea. Hiccup used his feet to stand on the bottom bunk, but used his hands to pull himself to the top bunk. Hiccup freed one of his hands from the top bar of the bunk bed to shake Fishlegs roughly.

Fishlegs sat strait up to quickly to be considered normal, and Hiccup lost his grip on the top bar. "Woah! Toothless!" Hiccup shouted out despite his dragon being out of ear shot. With a thud Hiccup hit the ground below, _hard._

"Oh..." Hiccup groaned wile holding his head, before hearing two sets of feet running down the hall to their room. "Hiccup are you okay?!" A woman's voice filled the room. At the same time a beefy pair of hands grabbed his shoulders, making Hiccup flinch.

"I-I'm okay. Thanks Magnus. Thanks Jacob." Hiccup said to the man and woman better known as his foster parents. They'd been taking care of him for five months now unlike Fishlegs and the twins who had been here over a year. It almost seemed like every time Hiccup tried to fit in with the other three kids being fostered such as this morning, he just got hurt. Literally.

Magnus kneeled near Hiccup, making sure he had no injuries. Unlike younger adults who would shrug it off, Magnus and Jacob were in their fifties and were worry warts about their 'kids'. "I'm okay. Really." Hiccup insisted, pushing Magnus's hand away from him.

Magnus frowned, but Jacob let go of Hiccup as well. "If the boy wants space, we give him space." He said, causing Hiccup to smile. Magnus and Jacob hesitantly left the room, letting Hiccup and Fishlegs get dressed. "Hey Hiccup have you seen my tunic?" Fishlegs asked wile changing into his day pants.

"No idea Fishlegs. Check the drawers in my dresser, maybe it got mixed in with my shirts." Fishlegs nodded and checked in the drawers, eventually finding his tunic. Hiccup changed into his red tunic and leather armor that he liked to wear along with a pare of blue jeans. Fishlegs dressed in his usual orange sweater and green leggings.

Once done getting dressed Hiccup packed his green backpack and red zip up binder for school at the same time Fishlegs packed up his giant blue backpack and put his notes in his numerous pockets. Both boys exited their room, meeting up with twins halfway down the wooden hallways which had the boys room and the twins room, one bathroom, and one guest room. The master bedroom where Magnus and Jacob slept was on the other end of the house past the living room which was to the right of the kitchen. You had to walk past the rest area with a fire pit in the middle and small TV with games attached to it before you entered the dining room/kitchen.

"Hey Ruffnut. Tuff." Hiccup said, stopping beside his adoptive siblings. Tuffnut backed away from Hiccup, like I said before not really liking any man other than himself. Ruffnut rolled her eyes at her brother, before smiling at Hiccup.

"Hey H. Hey Fish. Ready for school?" Ruffnut asked, walking beside Hiccup as they entered the rest area, Fishlegs and Tuffnut close behind. Hiccup looked down awkwardly, then shrugged. "Eh, at least it's almost Friday right?" Ruffnut nodded enthusiastically, punching Hiccup's shoulder lightly. "I agree one hundred percent my brother." Hiccup smiled, finally she was starting to accept him unlike Tuffnut.

The four kids in this house acted by a sort of code. Hiccup was the quiet one, and would only get upset if one, someone touched his papers and work, two they said something that triggered bad memories, or three someone did something he thought was a danger to his dragon. Hiccup was also leader like, and was seen like an older brother to the others being the oldest and being the most understanding of everyone.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut were the twins, therefor they always stayed by each others sides. They were the youngest of the group, and therefor were treated like so despite being only a few months behind. Tuffnut was protective of his sister and was territorial about certain things. Ruffnut on the other hand was even more chaotic than her brother, and therefor created so much trouble that none of the other three ever had time to fall into a depression or sadness about their past.

Fishlegs was like the middle child, born late January so two months younger than Hiccup who was born in mid February, yet four months older than the twins her were born in early October. Magnus and Jacob insisted on celebrating birthdays. Ruffnut and Tuffnut just had their sixteenth birthday being twins, and it was now nearing Fishlegs' and Hiccup's seventeenth, being the middle of November. Fishlegs was like the peacekeeper, never getting to mad at anyone and only really joining the other kids when needed or offered unlike Hiccup who was the one who started a lot of adventures, completing their group.

As I said before, Tuffnut was territorial, and thanks to their past, _very_ protective of his sister. He didn't like the idea having other siblings, so the second she called Hiccup her brother he snapped. Within a few seconds, Tuffnut was standing between Hiccup and Ruffnut, holding out his arms and glaring at the young man.

"He's not your brother Ruff. _I_ am remember? We're _twins._ " Tuffnut said sternly. Ruffnut who almost never listened to her protective brother shoved him out of her way. "I was just trying to make him feel like he was a part of you, me, and Fishy here you Muttonhead. Why are you so fucking stubborn!" Ruffnut said, having a tendency to get mad and violent quickly because she had to protect herself the two times they went to jail.

"Hey guys that's enough. Tuffnut I wasn't trying to take your sister from you, I swear it." Hiccup tried to reason, something he was normally good at. Tuffnut wasn't having it. "Who are you to boss me around?!" He asked and Hiccup scowled.

"Look here Tuff, I don't want to be in this household anymore than you do, got it? I don't want to have to adapt to a different family until I'm 18. I don't want to have to have nightmares almost every night of my father leaving me. If it was up to me, I'd be back home fending for myself right now, so don't you go thinking i'm trying to _steal_ any siblings here. I could be just fine on my own using the money I get from dragon racing right now." Hiccup glared at Tuffnut. Like I said, the second thing. You trigger his memories and Hiccup gets angry.

Fishlegs suddenly stepped in, acting as a shield to make sure the two boys didn't go at each others throats. "Hey look guys, we've only got ten minutes till school. Why don't we just calm down, and eat breakfast." Hiccup and Tuffnut didn't budge.

Suddenly Ruffnut didn't like the tension and became nervous. This caused her to lash out at her brother who lashed out at Fishlegs for getting to close who lashed out at Hiccup who got angry at Tuffnut for being so moronic as he put it.

Suddenly Magnus and Jacob entered the room, Jacob grabbing Tuffnut so he would stop fighting his sister. It was almost like the boy thought no one could hurt his sister, except him. Tuffnut probably just didn't trust anyone to not go to far.

"Tuffnut stop this! We're not hurting you." Jacob tried to reason as Tuffnut thrashed against him, shouting insults I'd prefer not to write at this very moment. Hiccup took a seat on the couch, head in his hands. He wondered where Toothless was, and felt upset that his dragon was out of ear shot. This was way to much stress on him.

Fishlegs sat beside Hiccup, being a very forgiving person of everyone except his father. He lay a large hand on his 'brothers' shoulder, waiting for Hiccup to say something. Magnus tried to calm Ruffnut down who had a black eye and was stuck in a flashback.

Eventually everyone calmed down, and they were five minutes late for driving to the school. "Alright everyone, lets just calm down and get to school alright? You can see you friends and forget about your enemies for a little wile. Deal?" Magnus asked, standing in the middle of the rest area.

Hesitantly all the other kids agreed, Hiccup not saying anything or nodding. He simply grabbed his bag, walking outside to the tan colored van which had three back seats, two middle seats, and two front seats. Hiccup sat in the very back, Fishlegs sitting in the cramped middle next to him. Ruffnut sat behind Magnus in the middle who drove, Tuffnut behind Jacob who had to ignore the boy getting jittery and accidently kicking his seat.

Hiccup looked out at the dragon stalls where the dragons were eating their breakfast from the feeding stations. A small smile graced his lips as Hiccup remembered his one best friend. Touching the Thunderdrum pin which connected to his leather armor, Hiccup looked outside the window wile remembering what his dad had said in the note that came with it.

 _"I know you didn't want this, but I said I'd give it to you when your ready. Your capable of so much son, and I know you won't let this loss get you down."_ Hiccup tried to keep his father from being a liar, getting through life as it was. It was still hard though, and now Hiccup had a day of school to go to. "You ready?" He asked Fishlegs who shrugged. "Ready as i'll ever be." School was an everyday challenge for the temperamental, hurt, and lost foster kids, but they knew they'd get through. They always did.

 **(A/N) Hey guys! There's chapter 2 for you (the first one was an introduction). I really needed to introduce the four foster kids and their parents more so wrote this. Basically the first chapter was the summary, second was introducing the Hiccup/Toothless bond, third was introducing the kids and foster parents, and Chapter four is introducing the beginning of Hiccstrid so be ready!**

 **Until next time fellow dragon riders, I really love the reviews and if you have ideas to add into chapters like if you know something about foster care or someone in it I'd love to add your scenes in!**

 **Plasma Snow, peace out!**


	4. Introducing Astrid and school

**(A/N) Hey guys! I give you chapter three part four! I really love the reviews, and will reply to them in the A/N if you give me ideas to use. Also I forgot about one detail. Big Hiccstrid is next chapter, but some minor Hiccstrid is in this one. I used some stuff that I am learning in my Freshman year to apply to the kids schooling.**

School was a killer today. Hiccup thought hours had went by, but he was only in his third period Biology. He was only in ninth grade, Fishlegs in tenth because he wasn't held back. The twins were in ninth, but attended special classes so they didn't fight with other kids.

"Alright, who can tell me the chemical equation for Cellular respiration?" Hiccup suddenly raised his head up after getting lost in thought. He knew that equation by heart, but in all honesty dreaded the fact of talking in front of everyone.

The teacher, Ms. Dell, looked at Hiccup with a smile, thinking he was going to answer for once. Once Hiccup closed his mouth and slouched back down into his seat, Ms. Dell decided to give him a small push in right direction. Just like all his other teachers, Ms. Dell knew Hiccup was a very intelligent student, but was isolated because his past of being bullied and losing his family.

"Hiccup Haddock. You seemed like you had the answer on your mind do you not?" All the student looked at Hiccup expectantly. Hiccup covered his face with his hands, laying back in his seat further. At first he was going to just forget it, but then something caught his attention.

One of the most beautiful girls Hiccup knew was looking at him, an encouraging smile on her face. Those baby blue eyes were filled with expectation, her smile showing snow white teeth. What really caught Hiccup's attention wasn't so much the looks, as it was the amount of emotion hidden in her expression. You just had to look hard enough.

Hiccup sighed. No way was he going to act stupid like he didn't know despite just going over this last week. Not with Astrid Hofferson watching him. Hiccup didn't move from his position, his arm still over his eyes after peeking out at Astrid.

"Basically the reverse of Photosynthesis Ms. Dell. Oxygen and Sugars used to make energy along with Proteins are used to produce Carbon dioxide and ATP energy. In other words ADP plus C six H twelve O six equals H two O and CO two along with ATP heat energy." Hiccup finished his sentence, looking up at the teacher who smiled indicating he was right.

After the bell finally rang, Hiccup headed to his physical education class for special needs. When Hiccup went to this class he was technically qualifying as disable. As he worked in the gym though, Hiccup was like one of the volunteers who helped with the other kids such as his friend who had a wheelchair. Normally only Seniors could volunteer, but since Hiccup was walking into the class qualifying as a part of it, he was an exception.

"Morning Hiccup!" Hiccup's friend Adrien said, wheeling up to him. The kid used to be a model for his father, but that was before his legs were paralyzed in an accident Christmas day. Hiccup smiled, walking beside Adrien who wheeled to the circle of people in the middle of the room for stretches.

Physical education class only lasted forty five minutes, activity hour coming next. Activity hour was an hour during the school day where students either went to cafeteria if they had no extra work, went to their extra curricular classes, or went to one of their classes if they had work to catch up on. Hiccup hated the cafeteria, but was luckily needing to go back to his second period English thanks to being on the English writing team and the English grammar team. Hiccup had to finish a few essays to compete with.

As he walked through the halls, Hiccup accidently bumped into someone, sending him to the floor after he tripped on his prosthetic. Looking up Hiccup saw a group of three girls. One of them had long black hair and eyes resembling his own. Her name was Heather and she was sort of friends with Hiccup.

The one on the left had long blond hair reaching her waist and adorable blue eyes. Her name was Rapunzel. The second that Hiccup fell Rapunzel kneeled down to help him, being a naturally helpful person. The only reason Hiccup didn't hang out with her a lot was because Rapunzel was one of those girls who constantly commented on his looks, both eye candy and criticism.

Finally standing in the center was a girl with a blond braid, thin form, and a tomboy like outfit consisting of a simple blue T-shirt and blue jeans. Astrid didn't really care about looks and always wore outfits like this. Hiccup's eyes landed on Astrid as she carried her basketball in one hand. Realizing he was staring, Hiccup turned away with a slight blush, making Rapunzel giggle.

"You alright?" Astrid asked, spinning her basketball on her finger, those piercing baby blue eyes intimidating with one look. "Y-Yeah I'm fine. Just...heading to English." Hiccup stood up, dusted off his pants, and quickly headed for the class.

Every hall was divided in numbers. You had to walk from the cafeteria, around a corner, and then you'd see a wide hall with four thinner halls branching out in the sides. The two ones closest to the cafeteria were numbers 200 and 300. Closer towards the back door were classes 400 and 500. Planning on getting to English room 212, Hiccup had to quickly head down the hall before the traffic of other kids walking caught up with him.

Once in English class, Hiccup sat his back pack and zip up binder on a desk. He sat near the back of the room, putting in one headphone which was connected to his phone so he could listen to music. His left headphone just looped around his ear lobe, Hiccup making sure to leave an ear open incase the teacher had to tell him something.

He wrote for the hole hour, and pretty soon History was next. The class was pretty much just reviews over different dynasties and emperors, and Hiccup was set for the next thing they were learning. Long story short in history for the next few weeks they'd be learning about Vikings and Hiccup had been reading books about them for years. He always found the topic fascinating, and knew everything about their different religions.

After History came Algebra where Hiccup had a little bit of a harder time mostly because his annoying distant cousin Snotlout sat near him. After that came business management. Hiccup was an incredibly fast student when it came to computer work, so by the time he finished his assignment he had over thirty minutes to spare.

This gave Hiccup extra time to pull out his journal. Looking at his homemade planner inside the small book Hiccup remembered he had a dragon race tomorrow. Pulling out a few sheets of paper, Hiccup went over all his possible moves he could use to get through the racing course which was always littered with obstacles more quickly. The kids beside him watched in interest, the girls giggling wile remembering Hiccup was a pretty much famous racer. Hiccup just cared about it because racing was a passion. He'd been doing more dragon related stuff such as going over moves rather than socializing. It had been like this since Hiccup's father died.

 **(A/N) I know it's still short, only 1,000 words long, but I am trying to write more. I just don't have many ideas for scenes or details to put in the story. If you would I'd really enjoy reviews.**

 **Plasma Snow peace out!**


	5. Astrid's number

**(A/N) I'm trying to update fast because when school starts back in 5 days I won't be able to update as much.**

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"Finally days over." Hiccup said to himself wile grabbing his school supplies. Spanish class seemed to take forever with a random quiz the teacher also known as Coach Gobber of the football team, and part time veteran of the war liked to give. He always insisted that if you rapid fired your students with questions suddenly, then they'd be working so quickly to answer fast enough that they'd be able to answer normal questions with practiced ease. The tactic actually worked for the students who listened in class.

As Hiccup started walking out the door, Astrid stopped him wile grabbing his shoulder. Hiccup spun around surprised, but went silent when he realized who had grabbed him. "H-Hey Astrid. What are you..." Astrid smiled as Hiccup grinned goofily wile trailing off.

"I saw you in Physical education wile playing basketball with the disabled kids wile practicing on the other side of the gym. Two questions about that..." Astrid held up one finger waiting for Hiccup to let her know he was listening. Hiccup nodded, encouraging Astrid to go on.

"One, how did you volunteer for the special PE when your not a senior?" Hiccup smiled sheepishly wile looking down. Believe it or not, despite how long he'd been going to Berks schools, hardly anyone knew about Hiccup's prosthetic thanks to his pant leg and a shoe covering the end of it. Sure he raced with a more visible one not containing a place for a shoe, but on the race track no one could hardly see the riders with how fast their dragons went.

"Well uh...actually Astrid I qualify as part of the class." Hiccup smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Astrid raised an eyebrow wile crossing her arms, her body language indicating she was wanting an answer. Hiccup sighed, looking down at his legs.

"Promise you won't gossip?" Hiccup asked and Astrid groaned as if offended. Hiccup chuckled to himself sitting down in the chair at the desk. Astrid looked down at him, confusion written all over her face. When Hiccup grabbed the bottom of his left pant leg, Astrid had an idea of what was going on having seen this before in a past of her own.

Astrid kneeled down in front of Hiccup, at a loss for words. Hiccup looked at her wide eyed and confused when Astrid grabbed his hands from going further. One look at Astrid's face and Hiccup was beyond lost. Astrid had never looked that... _worried_ before. She was confident and never feared anything. After seeing her look so... _lost_ if that was the right word for it, Hiccup stopped, letting go of his pant leg.

"You okay?" Hiccup asked and Astrid nodded. "I'll be fine." Astrid stood back up, her confident posture returning. "And as for the second question." She continued as if nothing had happened. Hiccup stood up to, awaiting an answer. "Like I said before, you seemed to be having quit a bit of fun playing basketball today and I was wondering if you'd come over to help me practice. You seem like a worthy opponent."

Hiccup was at a loss for words, but after coach Gobber cleared his throat having been watching their conversation Hiccup managed a stutter. "U-Uh sure but I uh-I don't know if I'd be a-any good." Hiccup cursed himself for the serious stutter he got when nervous, but couldn't help but smile as Astrid chuckled.

"Great. Maybe tonight?" Hiccup hated to, but he had to pass. "Sorry, got a race tomorrow and have to prepare. Wanna come? To the race I mean?" Astrid went wide eyed, looking confused. "Wait...I can't offered tickets and-" "Astrid I'm one of the racers so I'm sure the security guards wouldn't mind me bringing _one_ guest." Hiccup cut her off with a chuckle.

Astrid agreed, hugging Hiccup goodbye. They agreed on practicing Saturday, and Astrid gave Hiccup her number. She claimed he'd need it if any one of them had a change of plans, but Hiccup was happy to have a friend he could actually talk to outside of school for once.

* * *

As he walked to the line for car riders who lived further away and needed a ride from their parent, Hiccup met up with Fishlegs and twins. "Hey guys, good day at school?" Hiccup asked, standing beside Fishlegs and across from Ruff and Tuff.

"Tuff here got Detention again. He'll be going for the rest of the week!" Ruffnut exaggerated, Tuffnut elbowing her in the side. You see, despite protecting her from other people, Tuffnut still hurt his sister. He said it wasn't bad, and rather than thinking Tuffnut didn't know his own strength, Hiccup and Fishlegs knew it was because his version of 'bad' hurt was what _they'd_ call abusive. In their old home, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were lucky to get through the week without a purple and blue bruise or two. 'Bad' violence was something that caused a bloody nose or broken bone. Maybe even worse.

"Uh...you _do_ know we've only got tomorrow for the rest of the week, then we have the weekend free." Fishlegs tried to reason. Tuffnut nodded, smirking mischievously. "That's what I said. Trust me, we've been through worse. When you've been to jail _twice_ and the occasional acute institution with a false diagnosis, you tend not to be afraid of a little extra work." Tuffnut explained, causing Hiccup and Fishlegs to frown.

"You do know we're going to have to tell mom and Jacob right?" Ruffnut asked her brother. She'd become close enough to Magnus the past few months to consider her actual family. Jacob on the other hand was a male, and with her past it was reasonable to see why the twins despised grown men who could pose any kind of intimidation or threat.

"And what?! Let them send me to another house because this is the fourth time I've gotten into to many fights. It'll be better on them so no authorities get involved." Tuffnut sounded slightly angry at first, but the rest of his sentences were like this was a neutral conversation. Hiccup pitied the twins, wondering how many times they'd been from house to house after only a year in foster care. Hiccup had been in the same house the past year with the exception of few months at Gobber's.

Before anything else could be said in this 'sort of' argument, Magnus drove up in their tan colored van. "Shotgun!" Tuffnut called, jumping through the open passengers door. Hiccup and Fishlegs chuckled, Ruffnut going off about how it was her turn.

Eventually Ruffnut settled for the very back end because it had a cup holder and they were heading to a local sonic for drinks. Hiccup and Fishlegs got middle. "So...why are we going to sonic again?" Hiccup asked, confused about why Jacob wasn't here.

"Jacob had to take a late call and I figured we could go get something as a treat. After all you've got your winning streak going and you have a race tomorrow after school right?" Hiccup nodded, a smile gracing his lips. They continued driving before finally reaching their destination.

"Welcome to sonic. How can I help you?" A woman's voice sounded as Magnus pulled up. "Hang on just a minute." Magnus said, turning to the teens in the back. "Blue coconut root beer with vanilla!" Tuffnut called his drink. You see during happy hour the sonic here had many flavor add ins for drinks. Tuffnut always got some odd combination which sounded gross but tasted delicious.

"Vanilla chocolate DP!" Ruffnut called from the back, being just as odd at ordering her drinks as the other twin. "Uh...mind if I can get a vanilla coke?" Fishlegs added in. Magnus smiled at them, taking a mental note of the drinks. She looked at Hiccup who seemed lost in thought.

"Hiccup?" Hiccup was suddenly pulled from his thoughts, and Magnus knew he was probably thinking about his upcoming race. "Would you like a drink?" Hiccup shrugged and nodded. "Uh...sprite please." Magnus nodded and pressed the button on one of the machines, ordering the kids' drinks along with a Coke for herself.

After getting the drinks, the teens and foster mom headed home. The second they reached the drive way, Ruffnut and Tuffnut ran towards the front door wile calling dibs on the gaming system. Fishlegs told Magnus he was going to take Meatlug to the public library and let her stay outside wile he turned in some books. Hiccup didn't say a thing, but imediatly ran towards Toothless' stall.

The stalls had no locks, and Toothless imediatly ran through his stall and into Hiccup the second he saw his rider. Hiccup laughed, petting his dragons head. "Hey bud! Miss me?!" Hiccup laughed as his dragon tickled him with his snout. Once Hiccup called surrender, Toothless backed away, turning his back to his rider.

Hiccup smiled, getting on the back of his dragon and leaving his back pack and binder in the stalls. He pulled on his leather riding uniform, replacing his school prosthetic with his riding one which controlled Toothless' prosthetic tailfin Hiccup made after the dragons tail got infected. It started with a wound caused by a monstrous nightmare, but the wound just couldn't heal properly and had to be removed.

Hiccup pulled out his journal, and up until late evening Hiccup and Toothless practiced new moves Hiccup had written down which could help with racing. It wasn't until they were both exhausted and hungry-Toothless being a giant dragon and Hiccup having not eaten at all today-that Dragon and rider decided to head home. They ate their dinner, and when nine o'clock came around Hiccup decided to get some early shut eye.

 **(A/N) Hey fellow readers! Your amazing for reading this far and if you'd like, please review with rather these chapters are to short or just fine. Your amazing!**


	6. Leg pain

**(A/N) Hey fellow readers! I did want to say that thanks to a reviewer who goes by Etglorriana95 I realize I've been being a little repetitive, saying certain details to backstories over and over again. I'll stop that, and hopefully this will help me push the story forward.**

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 ** _Pain, that's what he felt. Groaning the boy turned over on his side, not being able to find the source of the pain. It felt like fire, then stabbing. This had happened before, the leg. He remembered this happening a couple months ago. The leg had once been infected, and that meant the amputation sight suffered lasting damage. Why did it hurt this much though? It wasn't normal. Perhaps growing pains? Or maybe just sensitivity._**

Hiccup groaned wile rolling onto his side. It had to be around twelve AM, but no way he could go back to sleep. It had been a wile since the last time his amputation gave him these problems. Toothless stood beside his riders bed, occasionally liking to stay in his room.

"Gods...Toothless?" Hiccup opened tired eyes when his dragon nudged him. Hiccup tried to move his leg, but the pain was unbearable. Sometimes Hiccup just wished he could be like normal amputees he'd see who didn't have these kinds of problems. Then again, he never asked any others about night problems. Maybe they just hid their pain to?

Toothless purred, looking down at Hiccup's stiff and swollen leg. The dragon knew this was more than just the occasional phantom pain. He walked to the end of the bed, and nudged Hiccup's leg. Hiccup couldn't help himself, and a loud gasp followed by a cry of pain escaped his lips.

Suddenly footsteps were heard in the hallway, and Hiccup wondered if he'd been crying out in his sleep. Magnus and Jacob weren't normally up this early without a reason after all. Hiccup watched as both foster parents entered the room, Magnus sitting on the side of Hiccup's bed wile Jacob stood in the doorway.

"Hiccup? Hey what's wrong." Magnus asked quietly, running her fingers through Hiccup's hair. Hiccup flinched uncomfortably, not used to this kind of gentleness having not had a mother for so long and his father always away before he arived here. You'd think closer bonds would've formed in a little less than a year, but Hiccup was stubborn. Everyone knew that.

"M-My leg just..." Hiccup trailed off wile gasping, trying desperately to hide his pain but faltering. Magnus looked up at Jacob, the father of the house walking over to sit on the end of the bed. "I understand. Been a wile since this happened. Huh?" Hiccup shrugged, biting his lips and still laying on his stomach.

Jacob shared a look with Magnus, and the mother of the house smiled. They knew Hiccup had never had a mother so found Magnus a neutral new person to adapt to. Jacob on the other hand was someone Hiccup refused to bond with, not liking the idea of replacing his father. His hero.

"Anything we can do Hiccup?" Magnus asked in that tender, gentle, strong voice only a mother or someone with a natural mothers instinct could pull off. Hiccup shook his head against the pillow, but looked up at Magnus with curious, confused, almost innocent forest green eyes.

Magus smiled warmly. She'd seen that look on Hiccup before when something like this happened. Hiccup liked the way she spoke to him, but was confused about to many things to count. He felt comforted by the way Magnus acted like a mother, but all in all had no idea how to have a mother in a since. Hiccup didn't know all the things that differed a mother from a father, and he didn't know how far a child could go with a foster mother. All of them were different after all.

Magnus reached down to touch Hiccup's hand who hesitantly held hers with his own. Covering his face with his blanket as to not let anyone see his emotions, Hiccup hissed in pain thanks to his leg. Jacob shared a look with Magnus, before stepping out of the room to go get pain medicine.

Once arriving back in the room, Jacob had a muscle relaxer ointment that had worked on Hiccup's leg before. "Mind if I uh..." Hiccup suddenly tensed, pulling his half leg further under the covers. "N-No it's fine." Hiccup tried to sound polite but at the same time insist he didn't want the help. Jacob understood, Hiccup wasn't very used to anyone except Stoick touching his leg after all. A hero Jacob could never live up to. That didn't mean he wouldn't stop trying to be something else for Hiccup though.

Magnus frowned, but couldn't help but admire Jacobs understanding expression. He never pushed things to hard with the children, just let them grow to him if they did. Hiccup still had his face covered, but you could tell he was hurting by how tense he was.

"What if I helped?" Magnus asked. Hiccup moved the thick blanket he used just a little so he could look up at her. In all honesty Hiccup didn't like _anyone_ touching his sight because how sensitive it was. Magnus though seemed almost gentle as his father could be. It was weird how Stoick was a fighting man but could be gentle when needed. Unlike Jacob who was assumed to be to rough because he was a strong man similar to his dad, Magnus was a natural mother despite her only grandchild already being moved out.

Hiccup never met the young man, but heard he became a troubled teen and ran away from the state and law after he was eighteen. It's why Magnus and Jacob wanted to foster kids. Just like James their son who became troubled do to the pressure of his peers they didn't know about, the foster parents wanted to make sure their new kids didn't mess up because the pressure their pasts gave them.

Hesitantly, Hiccup nodded his head. Toothless pressed his hand under his riders hand wile purring, having enough of being in the background. Despite how gentle Magnus was, Hiccup still flinched and hissed in pain. After she finished applying the medicine though, it was much easier to sleep thanks to the relieved pain.

Jacob left the room as soon as they were done to sleep for work, but Magnus lingered a little longer. Hiccup was half asleep, and Magnus took this as her chance. Moving his hair out of his face, Magnus leaned down to lay a gentle, soothing kiss on Hiccup's forehead like she did for James when he was younger. Hiccup smiled in his now mostly asleep state, already dreaming. As Magnus started getting up, it might have been her imagination but she could have sworn she heard the soft yet meaningful words escape Hiccup's mouth.

"Night mom." He might have said barely audibly. Magnus knew he was dreaming and unaware of what he was saying. Perhaps Hiccup was thinking about his mother who died. The two simple words still made her heart squeeze though. "Night Hiccup." Magnus left the room to join her husband in a goodnights sleep.

 **(A/N) So what did you think? I know it's a bit short and random, but I needed something to show the difference between Magnus and Jacob in Hiccup's minds. I myself don't bond with many men because my mother brings new ones around and I don't want to get attached, but decided I needed to show some sort of bonding between Hiccup and his foster parents. I thought that the hole "Hiccup didn't know how to have a mother so could bond with Magnus, but not Jacob because it would be replacing his dad" idea worked pretty well. Review if you agree.**


	7. Damaged wrist

**(A/N) Another chapter for you guys! Quick question, do you like the title or should I change it? Also happy new year and BTW according to my calculations RTTE season 6 should be coming out in 78 days to 88 days depending if it comes out on the most reasonable release date somewhere between March 19th and March 29th. If we're lucky it will come out in February but that's just a dream.**

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Around six thirty AM Hiccup woke up early for school. Funny how sometimes you wake up super early on Fridays and Saturdays, but want nothing more than to sleep during the school week. Sitting up Hiccup threw the blankets to one side of the bed and decided to head to the restroom for an early shower and to get dressed.

Coming out of the restroom wearing his black leather uniform with matching pants he had, Hiccup spotted Fishlegs getting ready. "You already up Fishlegs? It's only six forty five." Hiccup said confused and Fishlegs just shrugged.

"Six forty eight to be precise. I couldn't sleep much longer." Hiccup nodded, stepping beside his friend and sort of brother. Fishlegs was by far the closest foster sibling he had. "Nightmares?" Hiccup asked. Fishlegs sighed, rubbing his right arm nervously with a shrug.

Hiccup frowned, sitting next to Fishlegs on the bottom bunk. "Well we're both ready and have around thirty minutes to spare. Wanna talk about it?" Fishlegs looked at Hiccup, confusion written all over his face. "Don't you have to go over the moves for your race at six?" Hiccup waved it off, hesitantly putting an arm around Fishlegs' shoulders.

"I've got spare time in school to use for that. Right now, I just want to help you. You're really a close friend of mine Fish." Fishlegs smiled at Hiccup's sincere words, never understanding and always envying the fact that Hiccup seemed to know what to say no matter the situation.

"Just about my dad is all." Fishlegs balled his fists, and Hiccup quickly lay on of his hands over his friends much larger ones. "Woah slow down Fishlegs. It's okay, I know you hate the guy but just breath." Fishlegs took a breath, slouching in his seat.

"Sorry Hiccup. It's just-" "I know Fishlegs. Really I get it. Your such a forgiving person, but it's understandable their are some men out their who don't deserve that." Fishlegs looked to Hiccup confused once again by the boys words. How did Hiccup know so much about these feelings?

"How are you so sure?" Fishlegs tried to hide his curiosity and sound casual. Hiccup sighed, sitting back against the wall beside the bunk bed. "That's a story for another time my friend." They spent the rest of the morning until it was around seven talking. From dragon knowledge to books about the history of their Archipelago, the conversations were endless.

Suddenly two pares of loud footsteps were heard running around in the room across of theirs, and the two brothers knew Ruff and Tuff were awake. Suddenly something fell in the next room, and Hiccup got up to investigate, Fishlegs following close behind.

The sight on the other side of the cracked door was one to behold alright. Tuffnut was trapped under a few pieces of wood in the Twins' room which need a good cleaning, and Ruffnut was stuck with her hand caught in the side of the top bunks bars. The bunk bed was painted an odd green color, but many pieces were chipped off. Hiccup and Fishlegs both questioned how in the world Ruffnut got her hand stuck between the thin bars of the bed, along with fearing how many times Tuffnut had gotten trapped under stuff like this.

"Uh hey. Need any help guys?" Hiccup asked, slowly entering the cluttered room. "We're fine, just uh...reorganizing." Tuffnut said first in the most unconvincing voice ever. "Sure, and I'm not the sibling of a mutton head. Maybe we're both wrong." Ruffnut chimed in, her hands circulation starting to cut off.

"Okay I'm sorry but you need help. Fishlegs I need you to help Tuffnut out of his mess. I'll find something to help Ruffnut get her hand unstuck." Hiccup started using his usual leader like voice which he inherited from his father. Ruffnut looked around awkwardly and Tuffnut struck.

"If you think your gonna touch my sister-" "It'll be fine Tuff. I'm just helping her get unstuck." Hiccup's voice was sincere and cause Tuffnut's eyes to widen. Since when could young men and teens like Hiccup talk so...gently?

"Woah, that was...sincere. What am I supposed to do with that?" And for once in his life, Tuffnut had no real comeback. For the first time in what seemed like forever, the young teen was forced to look towards none other than his sister for an answer.

Ruffnut smiled, using her free hand to grab Hiccup who yelped in surprise. She pulled him closer to her so if Tuffnut wanted to watch over her, he had to look at Hiccup as well. "I'll be fine Tuff. He's not like those other guys we met. Hiccup's a pretty great kid. He's not like _Alec."_

Tuffnut tensed, using his only limb that wasn't trapped to push Fishlegs' hands away from him. "Fine, just this once. We don't mention Alec though, not to these guys." Tuffnut eyed Hiccup and Fishlegs. Ruffnut nodded, but Hiccup could see a hint of sadness and confusion in her expression. It was almost like their was something bottled up she needed to talk about, but Ruffnut couldn't say anything because her brother was scared it would get her hurt later on.

After Hiccup managed to find a pare of plyers (And some other things he couldn't even name) he managed to get Ruffnut's hand free. Her wrist was cut and bleeding a little, so Hiccup went to the bathroom with her to get some bandages from the cabinet. Fishlegs was still trying to free Tuffnut who was to caught up in squirming and being difficult to notice.

"So...how did you manage to get stuck in the first place?" Hiccup asked, grabbing some bandages he'd kept safe in a cabinet and rolling up Ruffnut's sleeve enough to clean the bleeding with a cloth. "Some things are better unsaid my fine fellow. Sorry about my brother by the way."

"No don't worry about it Ruff. Tuffnut's just trying to protect you. You may not see it with how much you two fight, but I think he really worries about you. I also think he worries about how badly he wants to help you guys stay safe, but because the way he grew up doesn't know how." Hiccup said in a gentle tone, not taking his eyes off the wound he was cleaning. Little did he know Magnus and Jacob were watching with warm smiles on their faces, overjoyed that Hiccup was finally warming up to the family.

"How do you know?" Ruffnut asked, and Hiccup looked up at her confused. "Excuse me?" "I _mean..._ How do you know he wants to protect me so badly? How do you know he's now just making things worse for me. I hardly know how to do anything for myself because he's always their doing things for me."

Hiccup looked up at Ruffnut, pausing his work on her wrist. The teen girl had worry lacing her voice, and hints of sadness lining her expression. The feelings of fear and abandonment shone in her eyes, as if she was remembering something, but was to afraid to talk about it.

Hiccup took a breath, then continued his work on her wrist. "So...who's Alec anyways?" Hiccup could hear Ruffnut take a sharp intake of breath, and had a feeling it wasn't because the stinging ointment on the bandages. "I-I'll talk about it later, when Tuff's not right next door." Ruffnut smiled when Hiccup nodded in understanding.

"Gotcha. I'm not going to push you into anything you don't want to talk about Ruff. I know you've had quiet a...rough start." "Thanks H. You know...your a pretty cool sort-of-brother." Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle at the statement, and finished the last bandage.

"Yeah? Well your a pretty cool sort-of-for-the-time-being-sister." They both shared a laugh, before turning when Magnus' voice called from the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready children! Hurry up because we only have five minutes until we have to leave!" Hiccup and Ruffnut met up with Tuffnut and Fishlegs in the halls, both standing near their closest sibling. They all ate breakfast, and pretty soon were off to school.

 **(A/N) Hey fellow readers! IDK why, but I just love the idea of the friendship and in this story sibling relationship between Hiccup and Ruffnut. Perhaps it has something to do with Tuffnut trying to give Ruffnut to Hiccup in bad moon rising being fresh on my mind? Your amazing! Plasma Snow Peace out!**


	8. A romantic flight before a race

**(A/N) Yay it's 2018! Only a year and three months to go before HTTYD 3! Also Thanks to those of you who review and follow! What's your new years revolution btw? Mine is to break my habit of threatening people who make me to upset (Long story short when I went to a few mental hospitals I had very little strength and so used threats to catch another girl on my unit off guard so I could run and let a staff catch her. I always had to use really deep and detailed ones so the person raising a fist to me would be shocked and taken back. Simply threatening to hit them wouldn't have done anything. I've recovered and don't go to the hospitals anymore, but the habit still remains. I still threaten deep stuff when I want someone to get away from me and can't fight them. This year I'm going to stop doing that)**

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First period was child development, a class Hiccup still questioned. Common people could learn how to raise a child from books and experience right? So why in the world was he and a few others stuck in a class where they had to state their beliefs on the subject of parenting in front of a crowd? School was weird I'll tell you that.

Walking into room 509 which was Child Development/home economics room depending on the class period, Hiccup sat at one of the round tile tables near the white bored where he always liked to sit. His other fellow students who never listened walked in to. One girl sat in a been bag chair in the corner beside her friend who was a hyper, unprepared teenage boy. The boy was a freshman like Hiccup, the girl was a Junior.

The two Sophomore boys who always sat at the table near the door walked in with their over sized backpacks and phones in their hands. Finally the last girl, a senior who always slept through this necessary in at least one of your years chosen classes sat at the table near the closet, laying her head down for her morning nap.

The door opened again just as the first bell rang and Ms. Maylene, a substitute they always had entered the room. Ms. Maylene treated her students like she would her grandchildren, spoiling them with things such as candy or coffee in their first period class.

Ms. Maylene was a substitute, but was almost always in this class. The original teacher, Ms. Shoots, was only here maybe two days a school week. Reason being was because her toddler daughter was in the hospital, diagnosed with the dreaded blood cancer leukemia. Students in her class were always making cards for the fighting three year old known as Emily.

"Alright class. Are all of you finished with your assignments Shoots gave you?" Maylene asked, going over the notes in her binder the teacher had left her. Every other kid in the class looked surprised, apparently forgetting they had a sheet or two of some sort of homework this week.

Hiccup on the other hand was fine. He seemed to have so much free time he got his work done. Grabbing his printed papers, Hiccup turned in an essay they were supposed to write, a mini poster bored project they had to do, and three stapled together pieces of typed writing. The last thing was originally supposed to be answering a couple questions based on interview you had with some sort of parent. Hiccup on the other hand typed all the answers and questions along with some extra writing to summarize his one sentence answers. Teachers, though given extra work, liked the fact Hiccup was so in depth with his answers and often time gave him extra credit. This meant that on the days Hiccup didn't want to do class projects or answer public questions, he always had his paper grades and extra points to keep him at all A's and B's.

"How do you find the time do all this Hiccup?" Ms. Maylene asked, admiring Hiccup's detail and A+ answers. "I just like to write." Hiccup said simply in a quiet voice with a smile. He sat back down, watching videos on his phone since he was so caught up.

Eventually English came, then Biology, then PE, then Activity, then history, and finally lunch. Hiccup sat at a corner table, eating a simple sandwich and fruit cup. He was used to sitting alone at lunch, the twins unable to function right in the cafeteria and Fishlegs having fourth period lunch do to being in tenth. Most Freshmen and the occasional Sophomore had 5th period lunch, but Fishlegs just wasn't one of them.

Deciding he wasn't hungry Hiccup stood up and threw his plate away. Once sitting back down he pulled out his Journal to go over the obstacle course moves him and Toothless could use in their race at six. Suddenly Hiccup felt the presence of someone beside him and pulled out his earbud headphones which he was using to listen to his playlist.

"Hey Hiccup. What you up to?" Astrid asked, looking over Hiccup's journal curiously. Hiccup smiled, remembering Astrid was coming to his race with him. "Just going over some moves me and Toothless can use on likely obstacles during our race today." Astrid's face lit up as she remembered the race was only a few hours away. She'd never been to a live one before and it was clear she was excited.

"Am I still coming with?" "Only if you want to." Astrid nodded a bit to quickly despite not being one to show others her more jittery, excited, undisciplined side. Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle, and he suddenly felt the eyes of other girls on him.

"Wait can I come to?" "Why does _she_ get to be your guest." "I have way more of the looks that deserve you than she does. Astrid's just a... _tomboy."_ Comments were thrown their way, and Hiccup found it hard to keep up.

"Okay, first of all, since when am I the person who cares about looks? Second I can only have one guest. Third, Astrid's been more nice to me for who I am than any of you who don't know a thing about me." Hiccup tried to answer every girl best he could, and eventually decided to take Astrid's hand and go to the library.

Upon arriving at the library with twenty minutes of lunch to spare, Hiccup and Astrid sat down on a been bag chair near a corner. The library was small, but books, computers, and posters were _everywhere._ Honestly Hiccup still questioned how he managed to spend a lot of his time here, it was crowded to say the least.

"I'm sorry about them Astrid. I don't think a lot of people get that I don't race for the popularity." "Don't be sorry Hiccup. Some girls are just like that." Astrid thought for a moment before adding on "Why do you love to race anyways?"

This caught Hiccup off guard, but he quickly recovered. "It's just a passion, helps keep my mind off things." Hiccup replied, decided to grab a mystery book off the shelf and start reading on it. Astrid frowned, somehow knowing he was hiding something deeper.

"What kind of things?" Hiccup looked up at her, and for a moment he thought about how much he could trust her with. Astrid wasn't one for gossip, and she seemed genuinely kind. Hiccup hardly shared his personal life with anyone though, and decided he didn't know enough about Astrid to trust her...yet.

"Just family stuff." Hiccup shrugged, grateful when Astrid decided not to push him. Eventually the bell rang, signaling it was time to go back to the second half of fifth period class. "So...see you around six?" Astrid asked. "Well if your going to come as my guest I should probably pick you up earlier. Why don't me and Toothless meet you in the town park at 5:00?" "Can you do 5:30?" Astrid asked and Hiccup nodded. "Don't see why not." With that they both separated, secretly excited to see each other in Algebra and Spanish.

* * *

"Great Job bud! Let's try that one again." It was around four PM, and Hiccup along with Toothless were getting in some last minute training. From loop de loops to dives, to separating from each other to avoid collision, the two were in perfect sync. Perhaps that's why they had a winning streak and hadn't lost since Hiccup started racing. People from around the world would come with their dragons just to try to beet the champion racer. Thing is though, Hiccup was the only one with a night fury which was the fastest dragon with wings and good maneuverability. Now their were speed stingers and stuff, but they didn't qualify as racing dragons just like a miniature horse can't race in horse races.

Toothless roared in excitement, listening to his rider laugh. Hiccup hardly ever showed his happiness and laughter wile on the ground, never really being close enough to people to have this much fun with them. Toothless on the other hand...he was Hiccup's best friend since they were both younger adolescents. When flying on his night fury, nothing could keep Hiccup down in the dumps.

They flew for what felt like five minutes but was actually an hour or so. After landing and making sure Magnus and Jacob knew where he was going, Hiccup went inside to change into his black riding suit (Like the armor in HTTYD 2). After changed into gear, Hiccup and Toothless took off for Berk's town park. Astrid would be waiting at 5:30, so why not try to be a little early?

After arriving at the park, Hiccup was surprised to see Astrid had arived early to. She was shooting baskets at the basketball court there, a deadly Nadder shooting with her. "You didn't tell me you had a Nadder." Hiccup said, surprising Astrid and causing her to miss her shot.

"Yeah. My Uncle Fin gave her to me as a hatchling. He was a veteran and wanted me to have a dragon that could help me grown strong and independent. Stormfly and I have been best friends since." Hiccup was taken back a second, and he silently wondered what Astrid meant by _was_ a veteran. Perhaps he was just retired?

Astrid caught onto Hiccup's look, a sigh escaping her lips. "Yeah, yeah not every soldier survives the war. He died nobly though." Astrid held her basketball in her hands, a sad smile on her lips as she traced the black markings. "And that's what he always wanted. To die a soldier and a hero." Suddenly Astrid realized what she was doing and looked at Hiccup, masking her feelings with a confident look wile spinning her ball on her finger.

"Sorry about rambling on. I'm sure you need to get ready for your race so we're not late." Astrid said with her usual strong, confident, and honestly sort of sassy voice. Hiccup raised his hands, waving her words off. "Nah it's fine." He shrugged, catching her gaze. "A lot of people have been their and need someone to talk to." Astrid was now the one who had that curious yet afraid-to-ask-anything expression on.

Hiccup smiled, looking down. "Yeah...your not alone." Astrid nodded, passing him the basketball. "Who was your hero?" She asked, glad she had someone who had a similar experience. Hiccup caught the ball, shrugging his shoulders.

"That's a conversation for another time my friend. So...were you and your uncle close?" Hiccup passed Astrid the ball who caught it with perfect reflexes. "Yeah. In all honesty..." Astrid passed Hiccup the ball quickly and he caught it with perfect reflex similar to her own.

"You kind of remind me of him. Nice catch though." Hiccup smiled, spinning the basketball on his own finger. "How so?" Hiccup shot her a fast ball to, trying to catch her off guard. Astrid caught it though, making Hiccup sigh in defeat. "A conversation for another time." Astrid copied Hiccup's previous sentence. "So...shall we get going? I can fly Stormfly home on the way, she hasn't eaten and needs to stay in her stall." Hiccup nodded as they both took off.

Astrid put Stormfly away and told her mother where she was going. After that she climbed onto Toothless behind Hiccup, exhilarated to be flying such a rare dragon. Hiccup and Astrid took off at full speed, and Astrid who wasn't used to flying with a racer had to hold onto Hiccup in fear of falling off.

Hiccup looked behind him with the corner of his eyes when Astrid tightly wrapped his arms around his waist. Patting his dragons head, Hiccup slowed their flight a little bit. He blushed when Astrid's grip tightened, her blue tank top under her open jacket causing him to feel the warmth her body heat. Hiccup was grateful he had his uniform on, not wanting to go into a... _distracted_ mode right before a race, it would make him lose focus.

Her jean shorts caused Hiccup to become distracted once again because Astrid's long, thin, strong legs clinging to the saddle in an attempt to stay on. Taking a deep breath, Hiccup managed to think of Astrid and not her looks.

"Sorry...I kind of didn't take into consideration the fact your not used to racing speeds." Astrid freed one of her hands from around Hiccup to wave it off. "It's fine, just sudden. Stormfly can fly pretty fast but we're just not used to trying to break speed records." Hiccup chuckled, flying above the clouds into the sunset.

Astrid's fear diminished and was replaced by pure wonder. Her and Stormfly had flown in conditions like this, but never had she really just taken a moment to enjoy the scenery thanks to being focused on flying the right way after never having proper training to fly a dragon.

"Hiccup...this is amazing. He's amazing." Astrid reached around Hiccup to pet Toothless, but something about her voice and the way she touched him made Hiccup consider the thought that she was talking to _Toothless_ about _him_. That was a thought he didn't feel like proving at the moment though. Instead they continued flying, eventually landing at the dragons racers entrance by 5:55.

"Ah Hiccup Haddock! Glad you made it! I was starting to worry, your usually so early." One of the guards who was close to the racers told Hiccup. His eyes went to Hiccup's hand holding someone else's, then to Astrid's excited face.

"Who's this?" The man asked, extending a hand to shake Astrid's. "This is my friend Astrid Hofferson. I was wondering if she could come as my guest." Hiccup explained, hoping he'd get the answer he wanted. "Well, most of our seating as taken, so why don't we save you the trouble and you can watch from racers stables? That way you can congratulate Hiccup after his race and perhaps get to know some of our other racers." The man said causing Astrid's expression to light up.

"That would be awesome!" Astrid suddenly realized her lack of composure and stood more strait, her voice growing quieter. "If that's not a burden of course." Hiccup and the guard chuckled at the sudden outburst and cover up, but the guard waved it off. "Never a burden to have a racers friend come along. Well Hiccup, ready to get set up?" Hiccup nodded wile letting go of Astrid's hand.

"Sure am. Mind leading me to our starting point and giving me some images of the track?" The guard nodded, pulling Hiccup away. Astrid smiled as they walked off, and looked to her side once she heard someone from school shout a wish of luck to Hiccup. Astrid raised an eyebrow, since when did Tuffnut Thorsten pay any attention to Hiccup? The guy didn't seem to like anyone. What really confused her was the fact he was their wish Fishlegs Ingerman and two other older adults. Fishlegs _never_ liked racing, but seemed to support Hiccup.

"Probably friends of his." Astrid said to herself, accidently speaking out loud. Confusion in her expression, Astrid walked to where she would be watching the race from, deciding she'd question Hiccup later. Right now he had a race going on, and the last thing Astrid wanted to do was distract him.

 **(A/N) Hey fellow readers! How you liking it so far as the plot continues to climb? Leave a review to let me know! Also I just realized I said Astrid didn't want to distract Hiccup, but in all honesty she did that unintentionally on their romantic like flight :)**


	9. Racing Heather

**(A/N) Hey fellow readers, Plasma Snow here! I give you chapter 7 Part 8!**

* * *

The race was suspenseful to say the least. A new dragon racer, Heather, had a new dragon known as a Razor whip. Unlike most Razorwhip' which are considerably slow compared to the Night Fury, Windshere was incredibly bonded with her rider. They flew in sync with perfected skill. This skill was similar to Hiccup and Toothless, and for the first time Hiccup was in a match with someone who was one with their dragon.

Hiccup no longer felt like he was racing easy targets who were trained to fly. Heather was not someone to be messed with, and like Hiccup had natural skill. They were neck and neck because even though Toothless was faster in a strait line, Windshere was just as fast because the obstacles around them.

"So! Your the famous Hiccup Haddock?!" Heather shouted when she finally managed to pass Hiccup. The crowd froze, gasps coming from everyone. "No." Hiccup gasped realizing what was about to happen. Sure this was just a passion and not for the fame, but it would hurt losing his streak and no longer being champion.

That's when it happened. Toothless sensed his riders worry and determination. He sensed how badly Hiccup wanted this win. They both connected more than they usually did, Hiccup not even able to here the crowd. He only saw the objects around him and only heard Toothless.

Switching the tail position so they could fly faster which most would consider dangerous because the obstacles, Hiccup and Toothless were able to maneuver through them because Hiccup was doing nothing more than listening to his night fury who had echo location and used it to his advantage in planning his moves.

Without even thinking about the race, Hiccup and Toothless zoomed past Heather and Windshere. Hiccup couldn't tell what was going on, he was just connected to his dragon. It was honestly a bit unnerving, as if Hiccup was letting everything go and letting his dragon have it all.

After passing the finish line with at least fifty feet on Heather, Toothless circled around wile the crowd shouted in joy, cheering and releasing the breath they'd been holding. Hiccup didn't think about that though. He was stunned about how much he'd lost himself. It was like he wasn't even in his own body.

The connection they'd accomplished was exhilarating and amazing. At the same time though when Hiccup came back to his senses it was unnerving. One minute he was so tense, having been that way ever since he was put into Magnus and Jacob's home. For the first time Hiccup felt light, and for some odd reason he felt emotional with how much weight he'd lost on his shoulders. As he went back to the stalls to find Astrid though, Hiccup held in the emotion.

Without a second going by after getting close enough to her, Hiccup felt Astrid's arms wrap tightly around him. Feeling Astrid tense, Hiccup realized she was worried he'd lose to Heather just like everyone else in the crowd, causing the excitement of the win to be greater than usual. Suspense will do that to you.

"Hiccup that was amazing!" Astrid shouted wile pulling back. Suddenly she punched Hiccup's arm, causing the boy to groan in pain. Hiccup was about to comment, asking her why the hell she did that. Seeing Astrid's laugh and mixed expression though, Hiccup realized the punch was a way she expressed her excitement and sort of communicated.

"Yeah. I'm honestly kind of confused on how we won." Hiccup admitted, rubbing his neck nervously. Astrid now looked confused, grabbing his wrist for fear he'd rub his neck raw. "What do you mean by that? Didn't you plan that 'big finish' as everyone is now calling it?"

Hiccup frowned, shaking his head. "Astrid I'm not one for boasting. I didn't stay behind on purpose just to have a more exciting ending. No I...it was _weird._ I really thought I was going to lose, then all a sudden...I-I couldn't hear or really see _anything._ I let myself go and just let Toothless take control without even trying. It was as if our connection skipped a level or something. Thinking about it now and coming back to reality...it was _unnerving._ "

Astrid listened to Hiccup speak, and honestly she was kind of scared of the topic to. It was amazing, yet it was creepy. She held Hiccup's hand in hers, moving her fingers from his wrist down so her fingers linked with his. Hiccup looked at her, forest green eyes filled with to many emotions to name.

Toothless nudged Hiccup, a happy smile on his face wile he purred and acted like a big puppy. "He doesn't seem afraid of anything." Astrid turned to Hiccup, grabbing the collar of his flight suit so he had to look into her eyes. "And so you shouldn't either. Toothless knew what he was doing Hiccup." Hiccup nodded, and without even thinking he reached under her chin with his finger.

Astrid looked up, Hiccup's hand now cupping her cheek. They both read each others eyes like words on a page, scanning each others books for what ever they could find. Hiccup found himself leaning closer to Astrid, Astrid automatically following with some odd instinct.

Hiccup was so close to his prize he'd worked for, but Suddenly Fishlegs slammed into his side. "Hiccup that was amazing!" Tuffnut followed close behind. "How in the world did you do that dude?" Ruffnut ran up wile punching her twins' shoulder. "Give him some space Tuff! So H. how _did_ you get that sudden burst of speed? It was like you and Toothless were the exact same person!"

Hiccup backed up wile holding his hands up. "Guys. Guys! I'll explain later. Please I'm kind of worn out." Magnus and Jacob walked up to them, prying the other kids away from Hiccup. Magnus talked to a very angry Tuffnut about how they had no right to put their hands on him, and Jacob lay a hand on Hiccup's shoulder.

"Their just warn out." He said and Hiccup nodded, subconsciously leaning into the touch. He realized he'd been seeking that comfort from Jacob and accepted it. Something deep within Hiccup screamed that it was wrong. Jacob wasn't his dad. He wasn't like Stoick. Hiccup couldn't get to attached and now that's what he was doing!

All Hiccup could do though was tense, unable to find the willpower to pull away from the strong, protective man next to him. Hiccup looked at Astrid who looked confused. "So...why are Fish, the twins, and these two here with you anyways? They act as if your family." Astrid walked closer to Hiccup, taking both of his hands in hers.

"Um...c-can we talk about that later?" Astrid was disappointed, she had to be honest. Knowing what it felt like to have things you wanted to hide and how hard it was to hide a past though, Astrid agreed, letting him go.

Fishlegs, the twins, Magnus and Jacob all said goodbye to Hiccup wile driving home. Hiccup turned around to face Astrid wile fixing one of his suits straps. "So...need a ride home Milady?" Astrid smiled and nodded, getting on Toothless behind Hiccup.

 **(A/N) So I have no idea how I find the inspiration to update so often on this story. School starts back in 58 hours where I am, me getting up for it on Thursday at 6 AM. Your amazing! And please review!**


	10. Family difficulties

**(A/N) I can't stop trying to update it's like the only thing I have and love to do!**

* * *

Arriving at Astrid's house and remembering to slow down the speed a bit, Hiccup landed Toothless at the front step. Astrid got off Toothless first, Hiccup joining her so he could say goodbye. "Thanks for the ride Hiccup. Today was amazing." Astrid's voice trailed off once they were at the door.

"It's no problem Astrid. In all honesty, I like the time with you. Your pretty fun to hang around." Astrid smiled, punching Hiccup again who groaned in slight pain. "What was that for?" Astrid snickered, still holding her fists out.

" _That's_ for being a such a gentlemen when we both know how you are at school." Hiccup blushed slightly, but then yelped in surprise at what came next. Astrid's hand gripped his suit collar tightly, pulling Hiccup forward. With wide eyes Hiccup felt his lips crash into Astrid's.

He was stunned at first, but eventually deepened the kiss, cradling the back of Astrid's head with his hand. With his free hand Hiccup held the wrist that was gripping his suit collar a bit to tightly for comfort. Man did she not know her own strength.

Once Astrid pulled back, the most confident, admittedly cute expression took over her face. "That's for everything else." Suddenly a woman's voice called from inside the house and Astrid sighed. "I've got to go, mom needs me." With that she ran inside, leaving a stunned Hiccup on the door step as if nothing had happened.

* * *

Flying home, Hiccup and Toothless flew over the forest to admire the sights of the night. They were planning on circling around and getting home by nine as to not worry Magnus and Jacob. "So, what do say bud? Ready to head home?" Toothless agreed, turning wile Hiccup switched his prosthetic tail fin into place.

Hiccup was _planning_ on going strait home. Plans changed though when he looked down after hearing someone shout. Freshmen such as his self, and incredible football player Snotlout Jorgensen was standing on the grass below, a truck beside him. Someone who looked like his father despite the distance Hiccup had stood in front of him, no doubt shouting insults.

Hiccup watched Snotlout take all of this, head bowed and shoulders slumped. Flying closer with the night to blend them in, Hiccup and Toothless could hear the conversation. "How could you lose to the Tuffnut kid? He's so thin and shouldn't even be on the football team!" Spitelout shouted to his son.

Hiccup tensed. Tuffnut played on the football team? Since when?! He didn't seem to like being around anyone, and _really_ didn't like being pushed around or being on a team. Why didn't Magnus and Jacob know? Perhaps Tuffnut kept it a secret? Their really weren't any other kids named Tuffnut Hiccup knew. If their were and they were on the football team, chances are Hiccup _should_ have heard about them.

Hiccup's thoughts were cut off when Toothless suddenly started growling. Hiccup looked up and saw Snotlout's father had pushed him into the ground _hard._ Unable to take just standing by and doing nothing about the situation, Hiccup had a plan.

Stepping out of the bushes with Toothless, Hiccup ran in front of Snotlout when Spitelout continued to yell. "Snotlout! Their you are! Where have you been?" Hiccup helped Snotlout to a stand, his voice thrilled as if he'd been looking for the boy all day.

Snotlout looked confused, but kept his mouth shut. Spitelout imediatly took notice of Hiccup's riding uniform and recognized him. "Wait...you know my boy?" He asked, anger seeming to diminish. "Sure do. We have a project for school and I told Snotlout we could work on it after my race." Hiccup found it hard, but was able to lie good enough. That was a first.

"Oh! So was Snotlout just ditching work like usual?" Hiccup noticed Spitelout's anger was even greater than before and flinched. "What? No of course not! I was just...I-I uh I told him I'd just find him if he wasn't at his house. No worries." Hiccup's voice faltered, but he still managed to keep it up.

"Oh. Is this true Snotlout?" Snotlout stood in front of Hiccup, no longer cowering. "Uh...yeah totally! Why do you think I said I wanted to go out to eat today before we got into our argument? I figured Hiccup here would see the truck you know?" Spitelout bought it and Hiccup sighed in relief.

"Alright. We're going to talk after you get home though." Spitelout pointed an angry finger almost accusingly at Snotlout. Snotlout nodded, trying to stand tall. Spitelout got in his truck, driving the direction of home. Hiccup turned to Snotlout who was looking at his hands.

"Thanks Hiccup. As much as I hate to say it...I _really_ owe you." Hiccup waved it off, laying a comforting hand on Snotlout's shoulder. "Don't sweat it Snotlout. Trust me..." Hiccup trailed off, petting Toothless with a sad smile on his face. "Your not alone. I've been in the same situation believe it or not." Snotlout now looked up, surprise on his face.

"R-Really? But...But your the most famous dragon racer out their! How could someone consider you weak after all your wins?" Hiccup chuckled, getting on Toothless. "Well, why don't we head closer to your home and we can talk their. This forest if giving me the creeps and I'm starving to say the least." Snotlout's stomach growled and he nodded with a grateful smile.

* * *

Snotlout rode behind Hiccup on Toothless, and eventually they landed near a small sandwich shop. Getting off of Toothless who went to hide in the shadows, Hiccup pulled out his wallet while they went inside. "I'll pay." Snotlout didn't argue, mostly for the fact he had no money on him.

The two boys got a sandwich and drink before sitting down in a booth. Hiccup ate his cheese and tomato sandwich, but Snotlout just picked at his more loaded one. It was almost as if the boy was hungry enough for such a big meal, but suddenly something in his mind made him lose his appetite.

Some of the girls they knew from school passed by, and they were a little surprised to see Hiccup and Snotlout eating together. The two were very different at school after all. Why as Snotlout was a football addict and had a huge ego, Hiccup was more quiet, thin, and paid more attention to writing or art than any kind of sport.

Hiccup tensed when Snotlout's foot tapped his metal leg which wasn't covered by a shoe, and he hid it deeper under the table so no one saw. The girls didn't notice, thank Gods, but didn't leave. "Hey Hiccup. That was a great race today, mind if I sit with you?" The center girl asked. Her friends seemed to want to say something, but the center was obviously the center of the group.

Hiccup looked at the girl, seemingly a Junior thanks to her text book she was carrying full of homework. No wonder she was the leader of the group, she had everything a lot of girl in school loved for some odd reason. Long, flat, perfectly cut blond hair, highlights, colored purple and dark blue streaks, caked on makeup making her skin seem flawless, piercing eyes, and a figure to skinny to be considered healthy thanks to her form and height. Hiccup knew she wouldn't care though, being one of the girls who only cared what everyone else thought.

Snotlout eyed the girl like she was a Goddess, but Hiccup wasn't so convinced, not liking her sassy tone. "I'm sorry. Do I know you?" The girl looked surprised, but Hiccup was stating the truth. Not once had he met this girl in school, not really ever noticing anyone.

"Of course you do." The girl's voice seemed to falter. "I'm Celesta." Hiccup shrugged, oblivious. "Captain of the cheer squad?" "Sorry never paid attention to them." The girl faltered again. "Um...I'm a part of the Universities Scholastics Art and Spanish teams?" Hiccup shrugged again. "Sorry I only do the English writing team.

The girl got her confidence again. "I'm the one who sits at the right side table at lunch near the doors. Remember my friend James is pretty much the comedian of the school. We're the biggest group out of all the other kids." Hiccup now frowned, seeming upset.

"Well good for you. If you haven't noticed I never get to be a part of those groups. _I'm_ the one who sits at the far left table on the other side of the room near that back. Remember how many times your _friend_ has picked on me just because I'm a bit on the skinny side?"

The girl sighed at Hiccup's comment, seeming to try and pretend to be sympathetic. "I'm sorry about him. Like I said James only cares about Comedy and not who he hurts unfortunately. If you don't want to sit alone you can come sit with us." Her tone was sweet, but Hiccup saw right through it with practiced ease. It was like you couldn't trust anyone in that school.

"Nah thanks I'll pass. I don't want to sit with you just because you've seen me in uniform when your probably going to forget about it when I'm in more average and what others consider nerdy cloths. I'm sorry, but the world just doesn't work like that." Hiccup looked at Snotlout who actually seemed to agree unlike before when he was focused on the eye candy.

The four girls in Celesta's group all looked hurt. Celesta on the other hand managed to keep her composure and stormed off, shouting about how she was going to tell everyone at school all these different things that Hiccup knew weren't true.

"Wow. How do you handle stuff like that so well?" Snotlout asked suddenly after they left. Hiccup eyed him and realized Snotlout was kind of worried about the girls' words. "I uh...I've had practice." Hiccup smirked then tapped his leg against Snotlout's. "I really owe you by the way."

Snotlout chuckled, finally finding it in him to eat his oversized sandwich. "It's no problem." He said through a mouth full of food. "I guess we're even now. I just didn't mention it before because well...you know." Hiccup nodded, finishing off his tea he ordered as well.

Once they were done eating Hiccup and Snotlout decided to walk around, Snotlout not ready to go home yet. "So...you never did tell me why you related to my situation." Snotlout said wile looking at a new skateboard for sale in a window. Hiccup tensed, but his new found sort of friend was oblivious.

"Oh uh yeah..." Hiccup tried to find the right words after he trailed off. "Well you know, I wasn't always a dragon racer. I met Toothless when he was to young to even ride, the dragon specialists around here saying he was actually my age. Anyways we were both pretty young, and my father was a veteran." Hiccup's eyes went distant and Snotlout now listened closely along with Toothless. They stopped at a bench to sit down, Hiccup deciding to change into his covered prosthetic.

"Anyways you can imagine. My dad...he was strong, heroic, and the most protective man you ever met." A sad smile appeared on Hiccup's face, and Snotlout continued to let him talk without mentioning anything. "And me? Well I was born more on the skinny side. My mother...she hadn't been around since I was littler and therefor my father found it quiet stressful to raise me alone.

"Anyways, you get the point. I was in elementary and was always getting picked on nonstop. My dad...he didn't really grasp the concept of comfort very well. This didn't mean he didn't care of course, he just cared in his own way. From training me to fight, to trying to bulk me up, to giving me some...rather _tough_ talks if you know what I mean. It was kind of like I saw you and your father. In the end I knew he was worried about me, but sometimes parents make mistakes and it hurts you know?"

Snotlout processed the information, then nodded in understanding. "So...you said he was a veteran. Where's he now?" Hiccup cringed, of course Snotlout had to let his curiosity get the best of him unlike Astrid who could let things go.

"Um...away." Hiccup shrugged a bit nervously, not knowing what else to really say. He stood up quickly, dusting off his shoulder pads which had gathered frost on them. "Well, it's pretty late now so if your lucky your dad might be asleep. He should be cooled off in the morning and you two can talk then." Snotlout nodded, standing up beside Hiccup and letting the previous conversation go.

* * *

After Hiccup dropped off Snotlout, he flew home and arived around eleven PM. Upon entering the house, Hiccup spotted a worried looking Magnus and Jacob. "Hiccup! Where have you been? You must be starving?" Magnus said, standing up when the oven went off. Fishlegs was reading on the couch, and Tuffnut was sitting beside Ruffnut in front of the TV wile watching something called the Emoji movie.

"Why's everyone still up?" Hiccup asked. "Well, we decided to just snack, but Fishlegs and the twins insisted we eat when you get home." Hiccup frowned, guilt suddenly pulling at him along with some odd warmth. "Wait, seriously? I didn't think they cared about that stuff." Jacob just shrugged, a playful smile on his face wile he let Hiccup's mind wonder.

Hiccup moved quickly so he could help Magnus carry the rise and cheese bread roles she made, an original recipe. "Let me take that." Hiccup said. Magnus smiled, moving to go get the tea wile Jacob got down some plates.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting by the way. I was out helping a friend who was having some family difficulties you know." Hiccup then raised an eyebrow, turning to Tuffnut. "Oh and uh...by the way Tuff?" Tuffnut looked at Hiccup confused. "Would you happen to know a boy named Snotlout Jorgensen?" Tuffnut suddenly went wide eyed, using his hand to make a gesture like a knife cutting someone's throat. Hiccup got the message imediatly, his hypothesis that Tuffnut had a secret proving to be correct.

Magnus and Jacob thankfully didn't take any notice to the gesture, and they continued setting the table. Hiccup gave Toothless a basket of fish so he could carry it out to the other dragons to share. The family ate their late dinner, each one going to sleep for some well deserved rest.

 **(A/N) Their you go! I know it may seem like these ideas are kind of bunched together, but each one kind of ties in with the others in ways. Also If I didn't bunch them together, then each chapter would only be around 400 words a piece and to short. Your amazing!**


	11. Saturday practice

**(A/N) Hey fellow readers! So yay I've finally reached the more Hiccstrid chapters such as the basketball practice!**

Hiccup woke up around ten AM to the sound to his phone going off. Sleepily picking it up (They really didn't go to bed until like 2:00) Hiccup hit answer and heard a females voice on the other end of the line. "Hey Hiccup? I was wondering if you'd want to get lunch before practicing today. It's Saturday remember?"

Hiccup's eyes suddenly nodded and he jumped out of bed wile pulling a tossed green tunic on and fixing his prosthetic. "Oh hey Astrid-hi Astrid-uh...yeah wanna meat at Eleven? I can bring Toothless wile you bring Stormfly and we can stop at the nearby Pizza Buffet." Suddenly Hiccup tripped on a book in the floor, landing with a yelp. "Ow..." Hiccup was upset at first, but smiled warmly as Astrid chuckled on the other end of the line.

"Goof. Sure that would be great, meat me at the grocery store on first street, I have to pick up a few things for my mother." Hiccup nodded, cradling his phone between his shoulder and chin wile pulling on a fur vest and his green leggings. "Sure thing. Be there in..." Hiccup looked at his phone and realized it was 10:15. "Let say 45 minutes?" Astrid chuckled again before agreeing and hanging up the phone.

Suddenly Hiccup heard the top bunk move and looked up to see Fishlegs awake. "Well Hey 'Legs. Not used to seeing you awake at the same time as me." Fishlegs rubbed his temples, smiling down at Hiccup. "I'm usually a heavy sleeper, but even _I_ can't sleep through your excitement." Hiccup shrugged, fixing his shirt.

"So..." Fishlegs started with his blanket still over him. "What's got you so up and at 'em anyways? I haven't seen you this happy and excited since we were going to the fair four months ago and they had a night fury hatchling on stand with one of the specialized trainers." Hiccup smiled to himself, folding his sleeve over.

"Yeah, that was a good day. Anyway, you know Astrid Hofferson?" Now Fishlegs was interested, staring at Hiccup with intent interest. "The Hofferson girl who's a pro Soccer, and Basketball player? The one who owns the fastest Deadly Nadder I've ever seen _and_ manages to juggle her sports with A+ grades? Let's not forget her reputation as a writer on the Middle school team when she was only in elementary." Fishlegs started talking about Astrid like he would talk about dragon facts. Hiccup couldn't help but chuckle, ignoring a hint of frustration that came to him.

"Yeah, that's the one. She invited me and Toothless over to eat lunch and practice basketball." Hiccup explained wile brushing his hair. Fishlegs suddenly overtook a mischievous face and Hiccup became confused. "What is it?" He asked sounding a little defensive.

"Nothing. I just didn't predict _you'd_ be one for dating a sports girl like Astrid." Hiccup's eyes widened and he dropped his brush after getting a tangle out of his overly curly auburn hair. "Wait. What?! N-No way Fishlegs, I'm not... _dating_ Astrid. She's _way_ out of my league and we're _very_ different. She's not even in most of my classes." Hiccup grit his teeth, retrieving his brush from a pile of cloths that needed to be washed.

"Oh common. Going out to lunch, practicing her favorite sport, and we _all_ saw how you were at your race. Admit it H, you've got a thing for the Hofferson." Hiccup sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe...I just don't know. I mean I _do_ get along well with her, and we have similar beliefs as how to judge someone. I don't know 'Legs, you know I can never do anything without complications."

Fishlegs nodded with an understanding nod. "True to that. So what time you leaving?" Hiccup looked at his phone which now said it was 10:25. "Well actually if I want to get their a little early I could go get Toothless up and saddle him. After that I'll have maybe twenty minutes to get their." Hiccup picked up his spare backpack which had his journals and extra supplies. "Can you tell Magnus and Jacob where I went?"

Fishlegs suddenly looked surprised and Hiccup frowned. "What?" Fishlegs shrugged, climbing down from his bunk wile knowing he wouldn't get back to sleep. "Nothing. It's just...you _never_ really think to make sure they know where your going. Your not really the type of kid who cares if they worry where you are."

Hiccup bit his lip, trying to hide his own surprise. "Well yeah I mean...don't want to keep them worried for no reason right? Your already awake so there's really no difference. Anyways I've got to go, Toothless isn't really a _morning_ dragon you know?" Fishlegs nodded, making sure to remember where Hiccup was going.

* * *

"Hey Toothless. Can you land near the thrift shop? There's something I need to grab." Toothless and Hiccup were flying to meet Astrid at the grocery store, but Hiccup had something he needed to do before he met Astrid. If Fishlegs _was_ right and this _is_ a date, then he needed to get something from there his eyes had been set on for a wile. With the money Hiccup made from Sponsors and racing championships causing him to almost be a millionaire, but not quiet since he didn't care to much about money and such, he had enough extra to get certain things.

Toothless landed at the front door, taking interest in taking pictures with a few families their wile Hiccup went inside. "Hello young lad. What can I do for you today?" A man at the front counter asked. "Um...do you still have that silver ruby heart watch on sale in the back?"

Hiccup remembered seeing a beautiful watch the last time he came here. The band was made of silver and stones which honestly resembled the colors of a Razorwhip and Deadly Nadder combined. On the clock part of the watch were two oak brown arrows and crimson colored outline. On either side of the clock holding the band and the top together were two sides of a heart made of red rubies. The watch was over 500 dollars and on sale.

Hiccup remembered when he saw that watch and was offered it he said he didn't need it. He had once told the cashier in exact words if he ever needed a gift for someone, the watch would make a perfect treat. Now Hiccup wished more than anything luck would be on his side and the watch would still be here.

"Actually it is. You know...I think I remember ya. Aren't you the night fury racer who came here last time? Let me guess, you need a gift?" Hiccup smiled and nodded. "Something like that." The Cashier nodded, reaching into a box on the back shelf full of old antic watches that still worked. The silver on the ruby heart one was a little rusted, making it reasonable to be on sale for over 25% off. This was a thrift shop after all.

"Here you go son. Need a box to go with it?" The man asked in a heavy accent, holding up a small brown box in his left hand. On the counter he lay different colored wrapping paper. Hiccup took the watch, pointing to the baby blue wrapping paper and white speckled ribbon.

"Thanks sir, helps a lot." The man at the front waved it off, smiling brightly. "No problem Hiccup, anything for such a respectful costumer. We don't usually get kids like you who have good taste _and_ respect rather than one or the other." Hiccup nodded with a small smile, shaking the mans hand and running outside.

"Toothless! We've got to go!" Hiccup called to his dragon. As he was running Hiccup accidently tripped on the curb because his prosthetic. Toothless caught him just before he could hit the ground. "Aww." Three younger kids said wile their mother held them away from Toothless.

Hiccup looked to the mother to see if she needed anything, but the young woman waved him off with a smile. Hiccup took off on Toothless, flying at top speed after losing more time than he thought he would shopping. They hovered near the grocery store on first street, landing just as Astrid came outside the doors with bags in her hands.

"Hey Hiccup!" Astrid shouted, attaching her three bags to Stormfly's saddle and running into Hiccup. Hiccup opened his arms, both of them sharing a quick but tight embrace. "Sorry I got here later than planned." Hiccup noted the clock on top of the store saying it was 11:05.

"No problem. What's that in your hand?" Hiccup was confused at first, then smirked when he realized Astrid had seen the box. "Well...guess you'll have to grab it and see?" Hiccup said in the most competitive voice he could grasp. Astrid's eyes lit up, the girl always finding joy in any kind of challenge as if it was an addiction. She never liked the easy way out which some found odd.

Astrid reached for the box, but Hiccup turned with incredibly fast reflexes. Astrid frowned annoyed, reaching for the box again. Hiccup held it above his head, both of them laughing. Finally Astrid took advantage of Hiccup leaving his side vulnerable, nailing his right in his ribs with her elbow.

Hiccup bent over out of breath, pretty sure his side was bruised. The box went flying in the air, and Astrid grabbed it with one hand, using the other to support Hiccup so he didn't fall. "You okay?" Astrid asked, helping Hiccup stand strait.

"Never been better." Hiccup sucked in a long breath and smiled at her. "Cracked ribs should heal eventually." Astrid laughed, nudging Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup smiled warmly at her, and closed his eyes as Astrid quickly pecked his cheek.

"So...who's it for?" Astrid asked jokingly and Hiccup stood behind her with his arms around her waist. "Only for the strongest girl I know and her Nadder." Astrid smiled and played along. "Wonder who that could be." Astrid tenderly unwrapped the bow, then tore into the wrapping paper. Raising a confused eyebrow at the small brown box inside she opened it.

Astrid picked up the watch, admiring the pure silver and scale like stones. She also saw the heard like rubies and that made it hard to keep her Tomboy like composure. "Hiccup it's beautiful." She said quietly, slipping the watch on her wrist. "How did you know I'd-"

"Well I knew you wouldn't like regular jewelry because it would get in the way of your training. A few months ago I went to the thrift shop and saw this. It has the silver like a Razorwhip, and stones like a Nadder. I kind of figured it resembled the race I was in yesterday, and the rubies were a bonus. I know your not into bracelets and such, but figured a watch would help you time your busy schedule with all the different clubs and sports your in." Astrid smiled, leaning into his hold.

"No way you thought of all that. Most guys I know wouldn't think twice and would just buy the prettiest thing they could find." Hiccup shrugged, holding Astrid closer and leaning his head on her shoulder. "Well, I'm no ordinary guy." He tapped his prosthetic against Astrid's leg who frowned at first, but then smiled at the joke.

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid flew on Toothless and Stormfly, eventually landing at the basketball court. "So...you know much about the sport?" Astrid asked, pulling off her Jacket and long fur boots so she was in her tight blue T-shirt and black leggings. Hiccup took a second to admire her beauty, before answering.

"Well I play it in the special classes I like to help in, but not like the regular sport since there are obviously changes to the rules." Astrid nodded, tying her Sneakers wile Hiccup went into the side bathroom to change into a short sleeve green shirt and torn jeans. His present cloths were ones he didn't want to risk tearing up since they were some of the few cloths he didn't have with stains or messes.

Once he exited the bathroom, a basketball suddenly came flying towards him. With reflexes he earned from playing so much when he was little with his dad, Hiccup caught the ball and passed it back to Astrid. "Not bad Hiccup. You sure you haven't been trained to play before?"

Hiccup shrugged, not feeling interested in telling many childhood stories. "I used to play with my father when I was little." For some odd reason nothing hurt inside talking about his dad like usual. Instead, Hiccup just used extra energy to catch another fast ball, shooting it into the near basket.

"Oh. You two close?" Astrid's voice seemed to hint something Hiccup wasn't used to. Something resembling both curiosity and longing at the same time. Hiccup secretly wondered why Astrid seemed to have a hard time asking the question.

"Uh...yeah when I was little." Hiccup caught the ball and passed it to Stormfly who bounced it off her head to Toothless, both of them engaging in a game of pass. Astrid and Hiccup both laughed at the sight, standing closer together.

"Why not now?" Astrid asked wile holding Hiccup's hand. When she didn't get an answer, Astrid looked at Hiccup to see his eyes numb and stoic. "Hiccup?" Astrid lifted Hiccup's shin with her finger, Hiccup sighing and managing an obviously fake smile. He tore away, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's a long story." Hiccup tried to let it go, but for some reason Astrid felt the need to push him further. Something in her really wanted to know what was going on. She had developed an odd connection to Hiccup which she wasn't used to, and now hated that he was keeping something bottled up.

"We've got time." Astrid said, holding his hand tighter. Hiccup flinched, looking at her slightly surprised. Hiccup hesitated, but managed to stutter. "Remember what you said the first time we met at this court? About the soldiers?" Astrid took a moment to remember, but then her eyes widened.

Astrid held both of Hiccup's wrists in her hands, pulling him closer to her. "Not every soldier survives the war." She whispered and Hiccup sighed. Astrid leaned her head further against Hiccup's chest, the sound of his heart rate slowing with his sigh relaxing.

"It's alright though. Like you said there's really no better death than a noble one right? I've been trying to think like you do. He died a hero, and that's what matters." Astrid nodded, pulling away from Hiccup with a sad smile.

"You know...we're a lot more alike than I thought. My uncle Fin that I told you about? Coincidently he was just like a father to me, my real dad leaving thanks to drug problems when I was little." Hiccup now felt surprised, oh she had no idea the resemblance.

"Yeah, you have no idea." Astrid nodded, hugging Hiccup closer. "So who do you even live with without your father? I've never met your mom." Astrid asked curiously. Hiccup didn't have a chance to answer, because suddenly Toothless accidently hit the ball the wrong way and it went flying towards them. Astrid had her back turned to it, but Hiccup quickly let her go and jumped in front of her to catch the ball.

Astrid spun around to see Hiccup catch the ball, her eyes wide. What surprised her even more was when Hiccup couldn't keep it in his hand because the speed, so he sort of sling shot the ball with his hand, making a perfect basket.

"Wow. Okay you seriously need to try out for the team." Astrid said wile catching Hiccup off guard. "Wh-What?" Hiccup stuttered out confused. Astrid smiled, catching the ball as it bounced back to them after hitting Toothless who was under the net.

"You heard me." Astrid slammed the ball into Hiccup, the boy managing to grab it before it ever hit his skin despite the speed. "You were taught to play as a kid and have developed inhuman reflexes. Add in you height and your quick movements and you'd make a pretty good offense on the school team. Just think about it, k?"

Hiccup frowned, thinking about it for a second. He looked down at the basketball, tracing the lines with his fingers. "I've also got my special prosthetic for flying on Astrid. I can hardly run with the covered one and the sweat rubs real bad." Hiccup explained and Astrid crossed her arms.

"Do you _have_ to wear the covered one?" Hiccup was surprised by just how similar Astrid's voice sounded to a coach giving a lecture. He guessed her coaches were rubbing off on her. "Well I-" "No you don't. I get it Hiccup, you chose to wear the covered one because you don't want people to judge. With how good you do on the court though, you team wouldn't mind. I know you don't care about friends and all that, but when your on a team like ours your friends on it become similar to family. They'd stand up for you if anyone judged you and even though you'd be on the guys team I've seen how great they are."

Hiccup took in Astrid's words, the strong, authority like voice making her words hit him harder with ever sentence. He eventually gave in, nodding in agreement. "I'll think about it." Hiccup passed Astrid the basketball who surprisingly faltered, tripping backwards.

Hiccup covered his mouth, trying desperately not to laugh. "Hey! I wasn't ready!" Astrid shouted, grabbing the ball and throwing it as hard as she could. Hiccup laughed again, catching the ball with practice ease. "I got you! Admit it, I got you." Astrid frowned and stood up. She jabbed Hiccup in the stomach who doubles over. " _Fine,_ you got me." She said in a mocking voice, Hiccup freeing one hand from his stomach to raise his thumb indicating he was good.

* * *

After they got over their little competitive argument, Hiccup and Astrid flew to the Pizza Buffet on the high way. Astrid insisted on paying since Hiccup bought her the watch, and they both chose a table. Sitting down with a drink and pasta, the two engaged in conversation, forgetting the previous one about their parents for now and enjoying the moment.

 **(A/N) Yay! So Hiccstrid is getting real! I know I had Hiccup talk about Stoick briefly to Astrid, but I'm not talking about the bigger parts of his past until later, Etglorriana96 inspiring me to keep that for a big reveal. Your amazing!**


	12. Protection over a friend and a sister

**(A/N) Here's a new chapter fellow readers! Thirty two hours till I have to start school back so that's going to be awful. Please Review!**

 **Also to my only reviewer EtGlorriana96, thank you for reviewing and complimenting my writing maturing, it means a lot.**

"See you Monday?" Hiccup asked Astrid who nodded. "Perhaps. Night Hiccup." Hiccup hugged Astrid as they stood on her front door step, Astrid fixing the time on her watch. It was around 4:00, both of them having gone window shopping and flying before hand.

Hiccup pet Stormfly who nudged him affectionately, a laugh escaping his lips. Astrid watched as he laughed and played, admiring his smile and energy. Suddenly her mom called her name, indicating it was time for Hiccup to go.

"Bye Hiccup, mom needs me for dinner." Astrid said. She reached for Hiccup's collar who moved to quick, grabbing her waist instead and quickly kissing her. Astrid pulled back with a smile. She ran inside, whistling for Stormfly to follow. Stormfly purred wile nudging Toothless, seeming sad.

"Don't worry girl. He'll be back." Stormfly squawked happily at Hiccup's words, nudging her new found friends rider. With that she ran inside, leaving Hiccup and Toothless alone to leave. Hiccup didn't leave yet though, thinking about Astrid.

Suddenly Hiccup realized Astrid had left her door open, and stepped forward to close it. As he was closing the door though, Hiccup heard a call from inside. Unable to help but let curiosity get the best of him, Hiccup listened in.

"You were supposed to be back earlier!" A woman's voice who Hiccup recognized as Ms. Hofferson shouted. Hiccup flinched, listening for Astrid's response. The girl did have a habit of losing her temper after all. What surprised Hiccup was when Astrid's voice was anything but confident. She sounded small and sad.

"I know mom. I was out with someone." Hiccup suddenly felt upset. How in the world could someone break down Astrid so much she sounded so defeated? "Who could possibly be more important than your sick mother and her job young lady?!" Hiccup heard a crash, and peeked inside to realize Astrid had tripped on a table leg after backing away from her mother, the girls ankle still caught on the table leg. He would've thought she was pushed, but realized Ms. Hofferson was a fair distance away from her and didn't seem to look aggressive. She was in a wheelchair so wouldn't have been able to push Astrid with the distance.

"Mom I try to help as much as I can! Don't you understand? I need a life to! I help you with your treatments like I'm supposed to! I hold you when you experience the occasional seizure! I even search everywhere in the house to give you your inhaler when you refuse to use breathing treatments! I'm doing what I'm supposed to! Helping you make sure your _boyfriend_ has a good time by setting stuff up and being here to deal with the Bastard is _not_ something doctors or anyone have expected me to do. Th-that's your own problem."

Hiccup felt tense and upset by Astrid's outburst. He knew he wasn't supposed to see this, but Astrid's situation just wasn't fair or right. Her mother was scolding her for something she shouldn't be held up to. Secretly Hiccup wondered if Astrid's stern, aggressive, independent nature was a side affect of being held to so much. Hiccup would've been angry to.

"Go to your room!" Ms. Hofferson shouted. "What!?" Astrid sounded surprised. "You heard me. _Grounded._ " Astrid clenched her fists, biting her lip. Hiccup could see it, she wanted to fight, but held it back. "Fine." Her voice was defeated once again. "But I'm not being nice to Will." Ms. Hofferson looked enraged, but Astrid took off running upstairs to her room before she could say anything else.

Hiccup couldn't take it, he silently shut the door and got on Toothless. Just as predicted when Astrid got to her room she opened the big window she had wile calling for Stormfly to go flying. Hiccup flew Toothless up into the tree beside her window. He wasn't going to let her get in even more trouble just because she was angry.

"Astrid don't!" Hiccup shouted, holding out his hands wile standing on the large tree limb. Astrid went dead silent, beyond surprised and more shocked. A silence flew between them, Hiccup and Astrid tense wile holding their breath.

Finally Astrid couldn't stand it. "Y-you were eavesdropping?" Astrid's voice was quiet, but she had a hint of anger in it. Hiccup froze, trying to find the right words. "Astrid I know people who have pretty bad lives a-and I-I was just...I was w-worried. I-I heard yelling and wanted to make sure y-you were okay." Hiccup's voice was quiet as he stuttered, and Astrid could hardly understand it.

"What do you mean by that? Who do you know and why would they make you paranoid?" Hiccup secretly cursed Astrid's curiosity, but deep down he knew she had a right. He would want to know the truth to. With a sigh, Hiccup decided on what he should let lose.

"You tend to worry when you live with people who have screwed up lives Astrid. I've learned more than you can understand about how messed up some families could be." Astrid was more than confused, but she silently climbed onto the branch Hiccup was on.

Hiccup sat down on the branch, wrapping an arm around Astrid. Toothless and Stormfly jumped from the tree so they could play on the ground below. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping Astrid." Hiccup started, Astrid leaning into his hold as their legs dangled above the ground below. Leaves changed from the fall fell around them, making the moment peaceful.

"It's fine. I know you were worried. I just...I don't understand exactly why Hiccup. Why do you insist on never telling me the hole story?" Hiccup sighed wile looking down. "I really don't know." They sat there without keeping track of time. Eventually the sky started darkening and a black truck pulled up.

"Is that-" "Yeah, _will."_ As Astrid said her mother's boyfriend's name it sounded like venom was dripping from her tongue. Hiccup took both of Astrid's hand in his, making her face him. "Astrid I care about you more than any race, any school activity, and more than any secret. I need to know that you'll be okay when I'm forced to leave." Astrid listened to Hiccup's words, looking into his eyes which glistened with worry, indicating he was telling the truth.

"I'll be fine. H-He's not abusive or anything but just likes to shove people around and is really rude. He's always barging into my room and always talking sexually to both me and my mom. It's unnerving and uncomfortable. The only reason I don't report the guy who's already been to jail once is because my mother claims she loves him." Astrid explained, causing Hiccup to wrap a protective arm around her.

"I can stay." He said quickly, not really thinking about the consequences of decisions, but wanting Astrid to be safe. Astrid smiled warmly, holding Hiccup's hand. "That's not necessary Hiccup and I can't risk you or me getting caught. I have a number and you a night fury. If anything happens I'll call you okay? The guys going to be living with us so I've got to get used to it." Hiccup nodded sadly, hating the feeling of being so helpless.

Hiccup called Toothless who caught him when he jumped from the tree branch. Astrid made Stormfly fly her down, but admired the trust Hiccup put in his dragon. "I see what you mean by how odd your connection is. It's a curious topic to say the least." Hiccup smiled, patting Toothless' head.

"Yeah, well Toothless isn't any ordinary dragon." Hiccup used both hands to hold Astrid's head, laying a tender, caring kiss on her forehead. Astrid smiled, and suddenly became overwhelmed when Hiccup pulled away. She threw her arms around him, Hiccup finding no problem in the hug.

"Thank you Hiccup. Your the best friend I've ever had." Astrid pulled back, letting go of him completely. "And I...I love you." The words were so quiet, but Hiccup heard them. He was surprised, and by the time he recovered and tried to say he loved her to, Astrid had flown up to her window and back into her room.

With a sigh of annoyance and frustration by this hole situation, Hiccup got on Toothless wile scratching the dragons ears. "Common bud, let's get home." Toothless nodded, taking off into the sky. Hiccup flew as fast as he could, but something wasn't right.

Flying as fast as they were Hiccup felt it wasn't enough. Something in him which always craved the speed like an addiction hit him hard. It begged for more. Hiccup knew he couldn't get much more speed, the wind physically hurting him. He wanted more though, and just needed a way to forget any kind of pain.

Forgetting the world around him and letting everything go Hiccup was not alert. He let Toothless take control, the feelings building within him unbearable. He couldn't take it, and simply went numb, not caring about anything. Toothless sensed all his riders emotions that were thrown on him as they connected, and the anger, sadness, and frustration allowed him the energy to fly much faster.

* * *

After they finished a few laps around town, Hiccup and Toothless landed at Magnus and Jacob's home. Hiccup got off his dragon and sent him to the stalls with Barch and Meatlug. One look at Toothless and he knew the dragon was exhausted. Hiccup silently felt guilty for letting the dragon fly so fast just because he was angry. In all honesty Hiccup wasn't that tired. He was just...confused.

Walking inside Hiccup saw the clock above the stove. It started playing music just as six o-clock arived. Magnus was dishing some leftover soup she had out of the crockpot, and Hiccup decided to help her. "Hey Hiccup. Fishlegs told me where you went. How did yours and Astrid's practice go?" Hiccup frowned, remembering everything that happened. Like he was going to push all that nonsense on his foster parents though.

"It went okay. A bit tiring, but good as a hole." Hiccup washed his hands and started making hot chocolate for the twins, tea for himself and Fishlegs. Suddenly Jacob entered the room, looking exhausted. Hiccup saw fingernail marks on his arms, and noticed which direction he was coming from.

"Hey Jacob. Tuffnut doing alright?" Jacob sighed, biting his lip. Hiccup was grateful he was able to take so much with such great patience, otherwise the twins might be in a much worse place. "He uh...he's been better. So..." Jacob popped his back and washed his hands for dinner.

"What's for dinner?" Jacob asked wile making him and Magnus coffee. "Left over soup and rice." Magnus replied, coming from the back with extra plates. Suddenly Fishlegs entered the room, his head buried in a book about Viking ships.

"Hey Hiccup. How'd it go?" Hiccup was a tad bit surprised. How did Fishlegs know where he was without even looking up from the book? "Uh...it was okay." Fishlegs nodded, smirking in a way that made Hiccup blush. Of course their morning conversation was still on his mind.

Ruffnut entered the room, her eyes red from crying. Hiccup became worried, walking up to her. "Hey Ruff. What happened?" Hiccup held both of Ruffnut's arms wile sitting beside her on the couch in the rest area, across from the play station.

Ruffnut sighed, her voice becoming a whisper as if she didn't want anyone, especially a certain twin, to hear her. "Remember when we were talking about Alec the other day?" Hiccup now listened carefully, leaning in closer to Ruffnut.

"Well I was telling Tuffnut that he should let me talk to other people about my past and stop being such a worry wart. I get it, he has trust issues, but a girl can only take so much ya know? Anyways, the conversation only made him more protective. He was yelling at me when Jacob came in. Tuffnut told him 'he got to close' with anger in his voice. I got kind of scared of how dark Tuff's tone was, and took off down the hall. Tuffnut tried to go after me, but Jacob grabbed him."

Hiccup listened to Ruffnut's every word, his hand on his chin when she finished wile he pieced things together. "That would explain why Jacob had injuries after coming from you guys' room. Where is he now?" Hiccup asked, curious and worried at the same time.

"He's asleep. Wore himself out after an hour of fighting." Ruffnut explained. Hiccup nodded, hesitantly putting an arm around her for comfort. "You know you can talk to me right? I may not be your twin, but we are still kids of the same house." Ruffnut smiled, hesitantly allowing Hiccup to hold her.

The two sat there, waiting for dinner to get ready. Despite Ruffnut tensing in his hold, occasionally squirming away from him, and not letting Hiccup have more than one arm near her for some sort of fear two hands were more dangerous, Hiccup was glad he could let Ruffnut have someone else there for her for once. She deserved someone other than her protective twin, and for some odd reason, Hiccup felt a bond be shared between them. One he couldn't explain. It was like a sort of protective instinct and longing to help her because he was older. Hiccup never had siblings so had no idea what this feeling was, having not lived with many other teens.

Magnus and Jacob watched Hiccup and Ruffnut, smiling warmly at them. "I think he's warming up to her more than others." Magnus said wile smiling at Jacob. "I agree. I don't know how but...it almost seems like with Tuffnut out of his way, Hiccup's developing some sort of a bond with Ruffnut, wanting to protect her. It's almost _brotherly_ actually." Jacob replied in a whisper, kissing his wife's forehead. They both were cut off from their conversation when the oven beeped, indicating the rice was ready and it was time to eat.

 **(A/N) Hey fellow readers! So if your wondering, yes the bond between Hiccup and Ruffnut does play a part. Reason I'm so focused on it is because with the way Tuffnut is, I don't think he'd ever bond with Hiccup. That is, not unless Ruffnut was bonded with Hiccup so he had to play the part. More to come soon I promise! Though updates might be a tad bit slow considering I can't stay up till like 2 AM like normal thanks to school starting back in now 31 hours. Your amazing!**

 **Plasma Snow peace out!**


	13. Just TRY to let me in

**(A/N) Yep I love to update to much for my own good. At this rate I'll be getting up at 5 AM so I have two hours to write before school, and going to sleep at 12:30 AM like before! At least before the Christmas break I had around 7 hours of sleep, going to bed at 10 and waking up at 5. That was with 100 fan shots though and I could only update like every other day. With this though I'm not giving up on updates that slowly. At this rate if I can update stories with 30 chapters approximately daily up until the age of 19 when I start collage and have to update half as much, then (Believe it or not I actually did the math) Since my 17th B-day is October 13th 2018 I could have 100 stories done by the time I'm in my early 30's. Now multiply that by two thanks to writers block and studies sometime making me unable to update and that makes 100 stories with 30 chapters or 3,000 chapters by the time I'm in my early 60's. Wish me luck!**

* * *

 ** _Darkness, it clouded everything. Hiccup was panicked, no way was this happening. He couldn't even cry, the loss of his father struck him hard. It all happened to fast. Hiccup stayed a couple more days in his house to pack, but that was it._**

 ** _Hiccup slept on a hard mattress. The spare bedroom had no bed in Gobber's house, so Hiccup had to sleep on the floor. Toothless slept next to him, keeping his rider warm. The feelings were overwhelming, and Hiccup could do nothing more than just stare into the distance._**

 ** _Tears had fogged his vision, and now Hiccup was exhausted and unable to sleep. He went two hole weeks without eating, his already thin form growing thinner. Eventually Hiccup knew he had to eat after losing track of time and meals. Gobber made him soup, but even that made him feel sick._**

 ** _Then came the next round of news that was to hard for him to take. Hiccup had a friend in Elementary named Fishlegs who he was close to. Apparently he'd been put in foster care along with the cray twins of the school. His parents wanted to take Hiccup in since he had to have a home by law for two more years._**

 ** _Hiccup packed his cloths and his fathers flag and note. He kept the thunder drum pin on his shirt. Hiccup no longer talked to anyone more than a few words. How was this happening? How was he going from a famous dragon racer with only one parent left, to a foster home with kids and parents who he hardly knew? This wasn't right, he wasn't like those abused, out of control kids._**

 ** _Upon arriving at Magnus and Jacob's house, Hiccup was surprised to see the twins and Fishlegs weren't all that odd. In all honesty they functioned as a normal family. 'Not my family though.' Hiccup reminded himself in his thoughts._**

 ** _The first few days were a blur. Then came the nightmares. Hiccup was terrified of the nightmares at first, but eventually realized he just had to live through them. The dreams were just a part of his subconscious finally managing to process the information of what was happening. Hiccup finally started coming back to life again._**

 ** _Suddenly Hiccup was somewhere else. He was in his fathers lap as a small child, Stoick laughing wile his son played with a stuffed animal. Nothing else was visible, just blurry. The only thing Hiccup could make out was his father, his toy, and the sounds of laughter._**

 ** _Then Hiccup began to worry. What was happening? He thought his dad was GONE! How was he here in his home? Was it all a mistake? Was his dad really still here? It couldn't be! Where was Toothless?_**

 ** _Hiccup's mind started worrying, and therefor the situation switched to a nightmare like one do to subconscious' fear. "No!" Hiccup screamed. He didn't mean for this, he wanted to go back with his dad!_**

 ** _Tears streamed down Hiccup's face as he lost sight of everything. Everything was dark. Hiccup could hear Astrid, his dad, Magnus, Jacob, his foster siblings, even Toothless in the background. Everything was dark though, and finally everything went silent._**

Hiccup's eyes shot open as he finally woke up, sweat poring down from his face. Hiccup sat up, taking in his surroundings. The dark room, him and Fishlegs' desks, the bunk above him, and that pile of dirty cloths near his feet.

 _No._ Hiccup thought. _Why couldn't it just stay how it was? Why did I have to wake to this?_ He wiped his eye which had fresh tears. Pulling on his fur vest and long sleeve shirt, Hiccup strapped on his covered prosthetic and climbed outside to be greeted by Toothless.

"Y-yeah I know bud." Hiccup said in a hushed voice, petting his dragon. "I just couldn't sleep. No flying right now." Toothless huffed, but imediatly saw his riders sad expression. They both sat near Hiccup and Fishlegs' bedroom window which Hiccup had climbed out of.

Suddenly someone stepped into Hiccup's room. Hiccup was oblivious as Jacob saw him. Making Hiccup's bed for him, the foster dad looked outside to see Hiccup's sad and almost depressed state as he sat beside his dragon.

With a sigh Jacob grabbed a large blanket, and silently went through the front door. Hiccup didn't notice him when he walked across the lawn, and he yelped in surprise when two firm hands lay the heavy blanket over his shoulders.

"If your going to come out here, you need to keep warm." Jacob said gently, holding the blanket over Hiccup's shoulders. Hiccup nodded, taking the blanket gratefully. Toothless purred, falling back to sleep behind his rider, feeling like Hiccup was safe with Jacob for a little wile.

Hiccup sighed, looking out at the stars above them. Jacob noticed how upset the boy was, and gently wrapped an arm around Hiccup who was to tired to fight it. "Need to talk?" Jacob asked and Hiccup shook his head, not wanting to talk about his dream.

Jacob nodded, looking out at the stars as well. "It's pretty wild isn't it?" He said, catching Hiccup's attention. "So many stars out there. No one can count them, not even the smartest of the smart. It's a beautiful thing, but is unexplained. The number of stars and family have something in common Hiccup. Family is beautiful, but life is odd to say the least. We love people, and out of no where have them torn away from us. Similar to stars new people and generations come and go. No one can stop it, and no one can help but want to control it."

Jacob sighed, laying a hand on Hiccup's shoulder who was now listening curiously. Hiccup looked into the man's eyes, craving an answer to why he was saying this. Jacob smiled, taking the boys hands in his. "I know you've been through a lot Hiccup, and I know it has to be unimaginable painful to lose both of your parents at such a young age. That age where your having a hard enough time figuring your own life out. You shouldn't be having to go through the loss of someone else's life at the same time. I will never be the hero your father was Hiccup, but that doesn't mean I can't be another man to be there for you. Just like every new star that keeps the sky lit up, I can be another man to help guide you through your last years of childhood. I know I'll never be as close to you as Stoick, but I still wish more than anything, that you'd just... _try_ to let me in."

Hiccup was beyond taken back. He'd _never_ heard such a strong looking man talk so...gently. His voice was so sincere, and his words were oddly meaningful. Hiccup felt a lump grown in his throat as he remembered talks very similar to this with his father before he'd have to go to war. Stoick would try to sooth his son, saying there was a reason for everything and that Hiccup had to keep moving on.

Jacob knew Hiccup was growing stressed and sad, remembering his dad. He took note of Hiccup's clenched fists, and the tears glossing over his eyes. Hesitantly, Jacob pulled who he considered son closer, rubbing Hiccup's shoulder tenderly.

"Hiccup I'm a grown man. I know how hard it can be to chose who you can trust with your emotions. I won't judge because I've been through the exact same thing. You don't have to be afraid I'll hurt you Hiccup, I'm not going to let you go. Maybe...Maybe you've just held to much on your shoulders for to long. I hate to admit it, but I've been worrying you've been to scared to let it go. I'm here for you now, don't be afraid because your not alone."

Hiccup bit his lip, not wanting this to be true. He hadn't been holding to much on his shoulders! He was fine the way he was! He couldn't let it go now, he couldn't cry his heart out to man who wasn't even his dad! It was to hard. Crying over the loss would be accepting it, and Hiccup couldn't do that. He couldn't just accept the fact his father was dead! He couldn't just accept the fact his mother had left to because the stress caused by him! He couldn't accept reality. Because reality...it was terrifying.

Hiccup's eyes suddenly widened. Jacob...Jacob _was_ right. Hiccup was scared. He was terrified. A part of him wanted to be alive again. Another part though, it didn't want to face the present. It wanted to live in those memories of the past. A part of Hiccup was scared of what he'd do once he faced his fathers death.

Then another thing hit him. A part of him was scared, but was grateful. It was grateful Jacob was here. It told Hiccup that it was better to seize opportunity wile he still had a family. If he started accepting things now, then Magnus and Jacob could _help_ him face reality. The option was still scary, and not 100 percent trustful. It was better than the fear of being an adult, and not getting anywhere because he was stuck in the past.

It was all to overwhelming. The past, the present, the _reality,_ and the fear of the future without his parents. Hiccup shuddered, clinging tighter to the blanket. He finally let it go. Allowing Jacob to hold him, Hiccup let go of his pride and fear for that one small moment. I allowed Jacob to take the reins, trusting _his_ foster dad to protect him. Yes, not _the,_ not _a,_ but _his_ foster _father._

Tears that he'd holding back for to long fled from their captivity behind closed eyelids. They ran down Hiccup's cheeks as shudders and sobs racked the boys body. Eventually he was to exhausted to continue, and Hiccup looked up at Jacob expecting the worse.

What he received though was much different than Hiccup was expecting. Not a harsh face, not a stoic expression, not any of the above. He was met with warm eyes, the kindest smile, and a firm hand rough like sandpaper, but gentle enough to cradle an injured butterfly brushing away his tears as if he was a delicate piece of material.

Hiccup couldn't help it, and got on his knees so he could throw his arms around Jacob's neck and shoulders. Jacob was surprised, but quickly returned the hug, closing his eyes and holding Hiccup tightly. "Thank you." Hiccup whispered in Jacob's ear with a cracked voice.

"Your welcome Hiccup. I'm always here if you need me, even when your no longer a child." Something about that promise made Hiccup feel even lighter than he'd already experienced. His fears of being nowhere as an adult were slightly eased.

They sat like that a little longer, some occasional neighbors leaving for work and an owl calling in the forest nearby. Hiccup eventually pulled back from Jacob, rubbing exhausted eyes. "Common my boy, you need your sleep." Hiccup nodded, waking Toothless and sending him to the stalls.

For once in his life here, Hiccup didn't fret at Jacob calling him _his_ boy. He wasn't tense when the man led his tired and uncoordinated form to his and his foster brothers room. Hiccup just accepted it, realizing no matter how hard it was and how realistic illusions were that he could live in the past and he future, he couldn't move forward without first putting everything else behind him. For once Hiccup slept peacefully that night, having dreams, but not nightmares no, dreams he could cherish.

* * *

 **(A/N) Yay another chapter! So I know this one's kind of sad, but I needed the Hiccup and Jacob bond. I showed the bond between Hiccup and Magnus grow in 'leg pain', but needed to get the story moving and do a chapter about Jacob letting Hiccup know he had to let go of the loss of his first father, in order to let his foster one help him. Your amazing and please review!**


	14. Marvel debate (Part 1)

**(A/N) I have to say something, the reason this story hasn't been closer to being finished yet is because I'm CONSTANTLY coming up with different ideas for how the story line could end. You guys have any good ideas for an ending? Anyways this chapter is pretty much nothing but comic relief, a little but of fun and games with the characters to lighten up the mood from the last sad chapter. It's the very _end_ of the chapter that's lets say...suspenseful.**

Sunday morning Hiccup woke up at the late time of 11:00 AM. This was understandable though because his exhausting conversation the night before. Hiccup got out of bed and noticed Fishlegs was already gone. Pulling on his usual red tunic and leather armor, Hiccup brushed his hair and carried him and Fishlegs' dirty laundry basket to the back room with a washer in dryer.

Once arriving in the back room, Hiccup set his basket down after realizing Ruffnut and Tuffnut had gotten here first. Stepping out of the room, Hiccup entered the living room where the twins and Fishlegs were watching Marvels Thor.

"Hey guys. What are we watching?" Hiccup asked, sitting down cross-legged on the rug next to them. "Just some super hero movies Tuffnut picked out. I don't get the stuff honestly, it's so unrealistic!" Fishlegs gestured to the screen, obviously not a marvels fan.

"How could you say that?!" Tuffnut acted surprised wile popcorn spilled on the rug. "Marvels is the best movie creators out there!" He exclaimed, Ruffnut crossing her arms and nodding quickly, obviously agreeing with her twin brother.

"I'm just not a fan of so much fiction." Fishlegs said simply, turning to Hiccup. "So Hic? You a marvel lover like these guys?" Hiccup shrugged, not really thinking much on it. "I'm neutral. I mean I've seen the first Thor and the Spider-Man movies, but I'm not into it enough to watch for release dates and new hero's." Hiccup explained, sneakily getting some popcorn from the twins bucket.

Each of them continued to argue, still playing their natural parts. Fishlegs was all about non-fiction and kept Tuff calm, Ruffnut agreed with Tuffnut, and Hiccup was in between both of their opinions. They were so busy talking that none of them noticed Jacob and Magnus walk in through the front door.

"What's all the commotion about?!" Jacob had to shout over the noise. "Ooh, ooh, Jacob my man." Tuffnut gestured Jacob over as if they were friends for ages. This confused the man and his wife to a new extent. The male twin was always confusing.

"Hey okay so we're in a sort of debate here. Ruff and I are _true_ marvels fans. Guppy legs here despises it-I used despise right. Right? Good- so anyways, Hiccup say's he's completely _neutral-_ man that words' hard to pronounce. So my fine fellow...Rapid fire! Don't even think! Just tell me. Is Marvel the best creators ever?! Or...are you on 'Legs and Hiccup's side here?"

Jacob took a second to understand what Tuffnut was asking, the twins energy thanks to soda and popcorn making him talk and get distracted faster than normal. "Well...I've quiet enjoyed the Spider-Man and Thor movie, but all the other newer ones? I'm neutral." Jacob answered best he could.

"That's what I said!" Hiccup said with a smile, winking at Jacob who chuckled. "Ugh... You guys are no fun." Tuffnut groaned. His face suddenly lit up and he jumped to a standing position like a spring. "Magnus. Like a ray of sunshine. Rapid fire! Ismarvelgoodorbad?" Tuffnut purposely jumbled the question together so Magnus would just say good and leave.

"Eh...I'm with Fishlegs actually. It's unrealistic and if any of the things that happen to those characters happened to a _real_ human being, they'd either be dead or on life support." Magnus expressed her opinion, Tuffnut falling back in the recliner in defeat.

Suddenly he realized he wasn't done yet, and Tuffnut sat up again with amazing speed, seeming to be deep in thought. "Hmm...Ruff and I love the show. Jacob and Hiccup here don't really care. Fishlegs and Magnus despise it because it's 'non realistic. Question here is...who's our tie breaker?" Tuffnut looked around the room and saw no one had any ideas.

"Oh, Oh I've got an idea!" Ruffnut suddenly shouted excitedly. "Hiccup has his friend Astrid's phone number! We can totally ask her!" Tuffnut suddenly smiled, sitting down beside his sister on the floor. "That's a great idea sis! How did I not think of that?!" "Uh...because your not as creative as me." "Yeah true. Wait...hey!"

Suddenly Hiccup cut in before they could start fighting. "Woah, woah, woah. Hold up guys! I'm not just going to _use_ Astrid to solve our little argument." Tuffnut and Ruffnut looked at him with puppy dog eyes, shouting 'please' over and over again.

"Ugh...I'm not getting out of this one am I?" Hiccup said wile face palming annoyed. Ruffnut and Tuffnut continued asking him to call Astrid as if to prove his point. With a sigh Hiccup dilled the number, mentally begging for Astrid not to answer.

Astrid picked up though and Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Oh hey Astrid uh... I was wondering If I could use your help on something?" Astrid's voice was tired, but she answered. "What kind of help?" Hiccup cursed himself for waking her with how much she had going on.

"Yeah uh...so me and a few of my friends were wondering if you could help settle a small...debate." Astrid laughed on the other end of the phone, obviously hearing the voice he used that practically said 'help a guy out I'm begging you.'

"So-" "We're trying to figure out rather Marvel is good enough and need you to answer a simple question." Tuffnut suddenly grabbed Hiccup's phone. He put it on speaker, obviously not trusting Hiccup to tell them what her answer was.

"Wait a minute...Tuffnut?" Astrid asked confused. "Tuffnut give that back!" Hiccup tried to retrieve the phone. "Hey we're just making sure you don't lie is all H." Ruffnut tried, only confusing Astrid further. "Wait, the twins? Hiccup what's going on?" Astrid asked becoming more confused by the minute.

"Tuffnut it's _Hiccup's_ phone so give it back!" Fishlegs tried reaching for it, but Tuffnut refused wile laughing. "Wait, Fishlegs to?! Hiccup what in the name of Thor are you guys doing?!" Astrid shouted just as Hiccup finally retrieved the phone and got out of the knot of people including Magnus and Jacob.

"Sorry Astrid, I'll explain later." Hiccup tried wile keeping the phone on speaker. "Hiccup I'm not taking it! What are guys doing together? I didn't really take you as much of a party person and it's Sunday." Astrid said confused and Hiccup bit his lip, everyone going silent.

"Astrid I...I'll explain-" "Hiccup I'm done with that. Why do you keep secrets from me?" Astrid asked concerned and Hiccup took the phone off speaker, everyone else staying quiet. "Astrid it's not like that. I trust you it's just...it's hard to talk about." Hiccup tried, but Astrid wanted more answers. She would've let him go before, but now was different. He'd been dropping hints of some giant secret everywhere and she wanted an answer.

"Hiccup you can talk to me. Just tell me what's wrong I'm here for you." Astrid's voice was much more gentle and Hiccup sighed. "Astrid this isn't something to just talk about over the phone. I-I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me." Hiccup's voice was desperate now but so was Astrids.

"Hiccup I know your with them for more reasons than spending the night. You've dropped hints everywhere about some big secret going on. _Please_ just tell me." Hiccup couldn't lie to Astrid anymore. That voice, it reminded him of Astrid and her mother. Something in him broke hearing how desperate and sad she was. He couldn't believe he'd brought her to this.

"Astrid...Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Fishlegs...they're..." Hiccup bit his lip, trying to find a way to word this. He found no better answer than the simple one. "They're my _family._ All of them are..." Hiccup considered leaving it at that, but then came out. "...Along with my _foster_ parents." Astrid froze on the other end of the phone, and she finally pieced everything together from their first conversation, to Hiccup talking about his father on the basketball court. She didn't know what to say, and silently wondered if she'd hurt him by pushing him.

 **(A/N) And there it is! My first cliffhanger of the story! You guys like where this is going ;). Just so you know I'll be more eager to write with reviews. Your amazing! Also to EtGlorriana96, hope you enjoyed how I did the big reveal.**


	15. Marvel debate (Part 2)

**(A/N) OMG I am so worried! I won't be able to type ALL weekend and hardly at all today or tomorrow.**

Hiccup heard Astrid freeze on the other end of the line and wondered if she was having a hard time processing what he said. Maybe she didn't hear him right? "Astrid?" Hiccup started, Astrid letting go a breath she'd been holding on the other end of the line.

"Uh yeah. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Astrid's voice was much more gentle. Not anything like just a few moments ago when she was demanding answers. Hiccup took a second, not really knowing where this was going. When he first started living with the Wingdens, Hiccup thought Fishlegs and the twins would act weird or be crazy because something had to have happened to send them into foster care. Once he really got to know them though, it was pleasant.

Hiccup was scared Astrid had the same opinion about foster kids he once did. "Um...I-I..." For some reason voicing his thoughts were much harder than thinking them. "I didn't want you to get the wrong idea about me Astrid." There was a long pause.

"Why would you think I'd think differently about you Hiccup? I mean yeah, I feel sorry for what happened, and I can't imagine what you must've been through. Doesn't mean I don't still like you though." Hiccup suddenly couldn't help but give a short laugh, releasing his held breath.

"Wait seriously? You...you don't think I'm crazy or something?" Astrid chuckled on the other end of the line. "Oh your crazy alright, but since when is that something I care about?" Hiccup nodded, she had a point there. After all, Hiccup wasn't the most... _normal_ kid in a group.

"Wow Astrid...y-you have _no idea_ how bad I wish I would've told you sooner." Astrid sighed on the other phone, Hiccup feeling lighter than ever. "Yeah, you really should've. So...what's this big question you were needing to ask me anyways?" Hiccup smirked, putting the phone on speaker.

"Hey Tough, care to do the honors?" Tuffnut smiled and jumped up to grab the phone. "Okay Astrid now that you and your boy Hiccup here are finished, we need your help solving an err...debate. Hiccup and Jacob here are neutral with the conversation, Fishlegs and Magnus despise the movie creators, and me and Ruffnut love them. So...are you a Marvels fan? Yes, no, or neutral?"

Astrid paused on the other end of the line with a chuckle, obviously trying to add some dramatic suspense to the debate. "I'm a marvels fan all the way! How could you have doubt?" Tuffnut and Ruffnut jumped in joy wile laughing, Hiccup fell back on the couch with a groan, and Magnus along with Fishlegs just didn't really care.

"Your a traitor you know that Astrid?" Hiccup asked wile taking the phone from Tuffnut and taking it off of speaker. "Yeah I know. So...Anything else you need? I'm kind of busy with my mother and Will." Astrid's voice suddenly lowered a little.

"Still grounded?" Hiccup asked with a sad sigh and Astrid made a sound of agreement. "It's not right you know? I shouldn't get in trouble just because I snapped a little. My mother should be grateful I haven't called the cops on the guy yet." Hiccup nodded, thinking this over.

"I know that Astrid, but you've still got to keep your opinions to yourself. I know it's not fair, but if you don't want to report him and don't want to get in trouble, you've got to try and just accept him. I'm always an outlet if you need me. You know that?" Hiccup spoke confidently and soothingly.

"I know that Hiccup. I just...I don't know what to do. For once in my life I'm in a situation where I have no game plan, and no way out. It's hard to understand." Hiccup felt a pit in the bottom of his stomach form when he heard how sad Astrid sounded.

"You'll figure it out. Your Astrid Hofferson after all." Astrid gave a small laugh, and Hiccup was glad he made her feel a little bit better. "So, you ready for school on Monday?" Astrid asked and Hiccup shrugged despite knowing she couldn't see him.

"Perhaps. I'm really neutral about schooling." Hiccup said wile going to the fridge and grabbing some tea. He was oblivious to Magnus and Jacob listening in on his conversation, and tried to ignore the loud TV the twins and Fishlegs were watching.

"Your neutral about _everything_ Hiccup. I envy your personality in all honesty. I can't just be laid back and take what ever the world give me like you can. I'm one of those people who has to try and fix everything you know? Anyways I've got to go eat lunch with mom, she's not going to be happy if I start skipping meals. So...see you later?"

Hiccup smiled when he noticed Astrid's voice had lightened up a bit since they started talking. "Yeah, tomorrow for sure." Hiccup hung up the phone after saying goodbye, putting the device in his back pocket. He drank his glass of tea, then turned around to see Magnus and Jacob looking confused.

"What was that about?" Magnus asked, a hint of worry in her voice. "Just a friend of mine Magnus. Nothing to worry about, she's just in a tough situation." Hiccup explained. "What kind of a tough situation? I didn't like when you were talking about the girl needing to call the police on someone. Is she safe?" Jacob chimed in, causing Hiccup to feel a bit small since he was cornered unintentionally.

"Yeah she's safe, her mother's there." Hiccup stretched his arm and looked at the time. It was late noon and they hadn't had lunch yet. "So...if you want I can help with lunch. I do have experience preparing meals after all." Magnus and Jacob took that as their cue to stop pushing Hiccup. They simply nodded, letting him help Magnus with lunch.

 **(A/N) Yeah, it's short, but I had to get something up. Your amazing and remember I might not be able to update tomorrow or later today, and Friday and Saturday I won't have access to internet. The more reviews I get the more inspired I am!**


	16. Flying through the storm

**(A/N) So I guess despite the lack of sleep I'll be getting and such, I'm still working on updating enough to keep you readers busy until Sunday when I get home from my biological dad's house. Also thanks to my two new reviewers! I love to know your reading!**

After lunch ended, Hiccup decided to go on a flight with Toothless to clear his head of everything going on. "Hey guys, I'm going to go out flying on Toothless for a bit if that's okay with you." Magnus and Jacob simply nodded, being used to Hiccup and his addiction to flying.

What was surprising to everyone though, was when Ruffnut stepped behind Hiccup, grabbing his wrist. "Can me and Tuff bring Barch?" She asked. Hiccup looked over his shoulder at her and Tuffnut looked more angry than ever.

"Ruff, why in the world would you want to go flying with him? _I'm_ your other rider, you only need me." Tuffnut cut in, grabbing Ruffnut's wrist. Ruffnut pulled away from him, holding onto Hiccup's arm who stiffened. Since when did he sign up for becoming a human shield?

"I know your the only one I _need_ bro, but that doesn't mean I can't have other friends. Hiccup's a pretty nice guy, and let's not forget he owns a night fury. We're always to scared to take Barch out flying, but with Toothless and Hiccup we'd have no worried." Ruffnut tried reasoning with her brother.

Fishlegs wasn't around, having gone to the restroom for a shower. Magnus and Jacob chose not to interfere and simply observe. Last thing anyone wanted was to make Tuffnut madder than he already was. Hiccup grabbed Ruffnut's arm in a protective manner, astonished by the fact she just admitted she felt safe just by being around him and his dragon.

Tuffnut took a step back, seeming to let his guard down a little. "I'm not taking it Ruffnut. You have me and I'm the supposed to be the one who protects you." Ruffnut sighed, letting go of Hiccup so she could stand beside her twin.

"Look Tuff, I get it. You can protect me from anyone and everyone. That doesn't mean that's what _I_ want though. I want to have fun like other girls and our school. I want to take Barf and Belch flying because they don't deserve to be cooped up in a stall all the time. Tuffnut, with Hiccup we can do a lot more with very little chances of getting hurt by someone. He knows what to do. Hiccup's fended for himself before remember? He knows how to take care of himself."

Hiccup chewed his lip nervously as Ruffnut spoke, not really wanting to be a part of this conversation. Tuffnut frowned, and at first seemed like he was going to downright ignore his sisters wishes. Looking into Ruffnut's eyes though, Tuffnut saw the tears at the back of them. Did Ruffnut really want freedom that bad? Would she really rather have the ability to go out around people she didn't even know, than just stay beside him?

Tuffnut sighed. In all honesty he knew very well that Ruff had her mind made up. She wasn't going to go down easily. Tuffnut didn't want her to go of course, but if his sister was going to go he was going to be there incase something happened. There was no doubt in the world about that.

"F-fine." Tuffnut's voice was quiet, but both Hiccup and Ruffnut heard what he said. They were both a bit surprised, but didn't ask anything about it. After talking about a few more small things, Hiccup, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut went outside to get their dragons.

* * *

"So...great evening huh guys?" Hiccup asked over the wind as they flew through evening sky. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had stayed pretty quiet on their dragon, so Hiccup found it a good idea to at least try to break the ice with them. He knew he wouldn't get very far, but they needed something to make this less awkward and more enjoyable.

"Yeah. It's no night flight, but it's been forever since we've just flown around like this. Huh bro?" Ruffnut was the first to reply, turning to her brother with hope in her eyes. Tuffnut groaned, shrugging his shoulders. "I...yeah I guess it is." And despite Tuff trying to hide it, Hiccup couldn't help but smile as he heard a hint of joy and excitement in Tuffnut's voice. Apparently Ruffnut wasn't the only twin who'd been longing for this. After all, Barch was happy, and the bond with a dragon could change a trainers perspective on things.

"Hey you know what would be awesome?" Hiccup suddenly got an idea, and talking in the most challenging voice he could think of. Ruffnut and Tuffnut looked at him curiously, seeming to be naturally drawn to the excitement in Hiccup's voice which indicated future chaos.

"What?!" Both the twins asked perfect sync when Hiccup paused his answer. "Dragon race. You guys on Barch and me on Toothless. Whoever passes over the old burned forest at the end of town is the winner." Ruffnut and Tuffnut's eyes widened as they realized what he was saying.

"But we can't beat _you._ Your a dragon _racer_ for Thor's sake Hiccup!" Ruffnut started. "Besides, Barch has many disadvantages against Toothless." Tuffnut chimed in, sounding oddly smart for once. Hiccup shrugged his shoulders with a smirk.

"You'll never know. So...shall we race?" Ruffnut and Tuffnut whispered to each other as if debating what the best decision here was. Eventually they both turned to look at Hiccup, a grin on both their faces. "Prepare to lose your winning streak H." Ruffnut said first.

"Okay so Ruff's in. Tuff? You ready for this?" Tuffnut shrugged his shoulders, getting ready for a fast flight and leaning forward in the saddle. "I'm always ready for a good competition. Ready, on your mark..." Hiccup pushed his prosthetic into place.

"Get set." Ruffnut held tightly to the horns of her dragon, obviously a little nervous about the speed they were all planning on flying. "Go!" Hiccup let Ruffnut and Tuffnut take off with a little lead, before pushing Toothless to go faster.

He could've gone faster, but Hiccup settled for letting Toothless' tale stay in a position that curved in a way that slowed them down, not cutting through the air. This meant that he had no advantages like in races, and was simply relying on his normal speed being faster than the twins racing speed.

They were neck in neck, laughter and shouts of playful insults filling the air around them. Just as they were reaching their destination, Hiccup put on one final burst of speed. The twins and himself laughed joyously as the race ended in a perfect tie.

"Yeah we won!" Ruffnut and Tuffnut shouted in perfect sync. Toothless growled at them, obviously knowing it was a tie just like his rider did. Hiccup place a hand on Toothless' head as they continued slowing down. "I know bud, we were tied. Let's just let them enjoy the moment okay?"

Toothless rolled his eyes and Snorted. Hiccup chuckled to himself, scratching the dragons favorite spot. Toothless let go of his anger nearly imediatly, forgetting their 'argument'. "So...best two out of three?" Hiccup asked and the twins smiled. "Sure why not."

* * *

After another two races, the second one a tie and Hiccup taking the win on the last one, thunder started sounding in the distance. "Uh guys? I think we should head back home. Where there's thunder there's normally lightning. With my leg, riding uniform, and Toothless' saddle, it's not safe to fly up here.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut took notice of the worry in Hiccup's voice, both agreeing with their new sort of friend. Hiccup, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Barf/Belch, and Toothless all flew the way back home. Rain started falling and Hiccup became more and more worried about the lightning.

That's when it happened. A bright light shot through the sky. Hiccup saw the light hit just behind him, and before he could react was sent flying off of Toothless. The night fury roared his rider, but was unable to get to him thanks to his now damaged tail fin.

"Hiccup!" Ruffnut's voice was heard. A large gust of wind went by Hiccup and the twins grabbed him by either arm. "Gah! Toothless!" Hiccup shouted in pain at the impact at first, but then began only worrying about his dragon.

"Where is he?! Guys where did Toothless land!?" Hiccup shouted to the twins who were holding him. "I don't know Hiccup." Tuffnut said in desperate tone. "No! You understand it. I _need_ to where he landed! Toothless...he's all I've got." Hiccup's eyes scanned the ground beneath them. He didn't see it at first, but then noticed the big lump of a shadow in the grass below.

"Barf, Belch! Down there!" Hiccup shouted wile gesturing with his hands. The twins guided the dragon, and before they even landed Hiccup jumped out of their grasp. He ran to his dragon as fast as he could, adrenalin keeping his heart beet in his ears.

Dread filled Hiccup when he saw the night fury laying limp near the woods. "Toothless? No common bud." Tears welled up in Hiccup's eyes when the dragon didn't move. "Common!" Hiccup shoved Toothless' wing, the dragon still not moving.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut walked to stand on either side of Hiccup. "Is he..." Ruffnut trailed off, her brother laying a comforting and strong hand on her shoulder. Hiccup shook as the rain nearly froze him, but he remained in the dark cold by his dragons' side.

"Toothless. You've got to get up. Common! Let's go home bud." Hiccup tried pushing Toothless' head, but got no response. Hiccup couldn't help it anymore, and tears fell down his face. He held onto the reins of the saddle, trying to wake his dragon.

When that proved to be no success, Hiccup leaned closer to his dragon. Surprised he heard a very feint heart beet, and new Toothless needed to get to shelter _now._ A part of Hiccup worried the night fury wouldn't wake up in time.

Another, believed he'd _never_ wake up. "Toothless common I need you. You are my _best friend_ bud. I wouldn't be anywhere I am without you." Hiccup scratched his dragons chin, longing to hear him purr. "You and I have gotten through so much Toothless. Please, you don't think we can handle this? You can't fight? Toothless you've always been a fighter." Hiccup's voice cracked as he blinked away the tears.

"Please.." His voice was raspy and desperate. " _Please_ don't give up now. Not after we've come so far." Hiccup hugged his dragon's neck so tightly the more cautious side of him feared he'd hurt the night fury. Suddenly though, deep, warm, heavy breaths covered Hiccup's neck.

Hiccup flinched, looking up at his dragons head which finally rose from his shoulder. Two worried and gentle acid green eyes bore into his, and a smile broke out upon Hiccup's face. "Toothless." He hugged his dragon again, rather roughly this time. Toothless purred in response, shielding Hiccup from the rain with his wings.

"My best friend." Hiccup whispered wile wiping his tears. Suddenly two hands lay on either of his shoulders comfortingly. Hiccup looked up, seeing Tuffnut on his left, Ruffnut on his right. "We need to get home." Tuffnut said in a stern yet worried voice. Hiccup smiled, standing up with them. He walked beside Toothless, the twins beside them and Barch shielding them from the rain.

 **(A/N) Another one out for you guys! What you didn't think I would end on a tragedy did you? (Although I am considering it. I don't know rather to end the story with Hiccup dying nobly like his father, or continue the journey with him and his foster family.) Plasma Snow peace out! Please review! Updates might be tomorrow before I go to my dad's house, but I'm not entirely sure.**


	17. Protectiveness

**(A/N) Whelp, I never can keep my word can I? It's not Sunday, but here's another chapter for you guys!**

School was unbearable today as in most Mondays. Classes went by slowly, Hiccup's back pack was far to heavy on his shoulders, and the history teacher had decided to give him a ton of homework. Half way through history and Hiccup was heading to his lunch period.

Once getting a few beans and salad from the lunch line, Hiccup went to go sit at his usual table. Despite being the same table he'd sat at all year, the situation was very different. This wasn't Hiccup's lone table, for a certain blond haired teen wearing the black leather Jacket Hiccup couldn't help but stare at came to sit with him.

"Hey Hiccup. What to up to?" Astrid asked, taking a bite of her chicken and beans she got from the lunch line. "Eating." Hiccup shrugged, a hint of sassiness to his voice. Astrid suddenly elbowed him in the gut, but before Hiccup could complain, a soft pare of lips hit his cheek before quickly pulling away.

"You do know the school has the stupid policy of no PDA right?" Hiccup asked, worried he might get Astrid in trouble. "Public display of affection? Nah, no one's gonna snitch about a simple peck Hiccup. Besides, no teachers are around to catch us and they really don't care that much." Astrid explained, pushing her long bangs out of her eyes and braid off her shoulder.

As Astrid pushed her hair back, Hiccup could see the bare skin of her arm when her Jacket moved revealing her baby blue tank top. Astrid's arms were thin, but had the perfect amount of toned muscle that matched her thin, swift figure oh so perfectly. Hiccup couldn't understand how Astrid wasn't one of the other girls who cared only about looks, because she just looked so naturally beautiful.

Astrid caught Hiccup staring at her bear skin, including her chest which was revealed quiet a bit when her tank top dropped a bit at the neck line. She pulled her Jacket further over herself, and Hiccup turned the other way wile rubbing his neck nervously.

"It's fine Hiccup." Astrid reassured him. Hiccup sighed audibly, relieved he hadn't upset Astrid. After throwing away both of their plates, Hiccup took Astrid's hand causing her to look at him. "You want to go to eat with me after school?" He asked. "I could use some flying time." Astrid smiled, but the happiness soon faltered.

"Can't." Hiccup sighed, knowing exactly what she was thinking. "Your mom's holding up to her punishment?" Astrid nodded, seeming to look angry. She balled her fist, and Hiccup quickly grabbed the hand before she could punch something.

"Calm down. It's okay." He said and Astrid relaxed a little, squeezing his hand rather roughly. Luckily Hiccup was pretty high pain tollerant. "But...Maybe we could still meet." Astrid suddenly smiled a little, not making eye contact.

"Astrid I'm not going to do something to get you in more trouble than you're already in." Hiccup said in a rather stern tone for him. Astrid looked up a little confused, then shrugged. "Hiccup...I-I just can't keep staying in that house with Will and my mom. The guys moved in now! I can't stand him and need to get out. He's getting to close for my liking." Hiccup saw Astrid shudder, and remembered when she'd mentioned his sexual behavior between _both_ the woman in his new house.

Wrapping his arms around Astrid protectively and a bit possessively, Hiccup lay his chin on her shoulder from behind. "As long as you don't mind the possible risks, I don't mind helping you get out of the house." Astrid could hear the anger and sincere worry in his voice. She smiled sadly, taking his hand and wrapping it around her.

* * *

After the bell rang, Hiccup was forced to part with Astrid to go back to class. He didn't do to well on his paper work for that day in history nor Algebra, being to distracted. Pretty soon Business management came along, and Hiccup couldn't take the noise. He got his work done on the computer in a little over ten minutes.

Asking the teacher if he could leave, Hiccup grabbed his back pack and binder before leaving the classroom. He walked down the large halls covered in posters, before spotting his destination. Walking into the library, Hiccup put in his headphones attached to his phone and began sketching in his journal.

The picture started simple, a picture of Stormfly. Then Hiccup subconsciously found himself drawing Astrid sitting below her. Astrid's knees were to her chest, though a smile still remained on her face. She wore that cute leather Jacket, and the same jean shorts she'd been wearing today.

Hiccup sketched the sky, light rain falling, a meadow around the girl and dragon, and the sun. By the time the class period had flown by and the bell rang, Hiccup had added in the beginning sketches of him and Toothless. He looked at the picture, satisfied with his work despite not meaning to let his artistic mind wander so far. Grabbing his bags, Hiccup went to his last period class also known as Spanish.

* * *

Last period went by fairly quickly, and the second Magnus and Jacob took him home, Hiccup ran behind the house to the dragon's stalls. "Common bud. We've got to go make sure Astrid's okay." You didn't have to tell Toothless twice. He was almost as fond of Astrid as his rider was.

Hiccup and Toothless flew through the cloudy, chilly, yet somewhat sunny at the same time afternoon skies. Hiccup landed at the grocery store first, getting a few things. He got a leather bag with numerous pockets, then filled it with small snacks and sandwich ingredients.

Another few minutes past by. Thanks to flying at top speed, Hiccup arived at Astrid's bedroom window just half an hour after school ended. The second him and Toothless hit the tree branch, Astrid opened her window with Stormfly beside her.

"You bringing Stormfly?" Hiccup asked, standing on the oversized tree branch and taking Astrid's hand as she climbed out the window. "Yep. She deserves to be out more." Hiccup nodded in understanding, before both of them took their dragons to the ground below.

Just as they were about to leave, Hiccup and Astrid heard someone yell from Astrid's bedroom window. A tall man with a brown beard and oversized muscles shouted into the afternoon air. "Astrid Hofferson?! Young lady where are you?! We have some unfinished business."

At first Hiccup thought Astrid had gotten in trouble with Will and that's why she wanted to leave. That's when Hiccup felt something he never had before. Astrid Hofferson, the strongest, bravest, most confident girl in the entire school shivered in his grasp. At first Hiccup thought there was a possibility she was just cold, but that option went out the window when he saw absolute fear in her eyes.

Hiccup held Astrid tighter, tucking behind a group of tree's. "Common, we're leaving." Astrid nodded, recovering from her scared state. Her and Hiccup both silently took off on their riding dragons, Will never catching sight of them.

* * *

A few minutes later Hiccup and Astrid landed at the park with the basketball court they played at. "Here, I got some snacks until dinner." Hiccup reached into the leather bag he attached to Toothless' saddle, pulling out a bag of cashews.

"Thanks. I owe you." Astrid mumbled, opening the bag and taking a bite. Hiccup ate a mini sized candy bar, taking note of Astrid's features. She was standing tall and confident like normal, but most of her other traits just seemed...off. The fear in her eyes, the distant tone to her voice, nothing really added up.

Taking Astrid by the arm, Hiccup pulled her closer. Astrid let him, not bothering to give him some playful punch or pull away so she was independent. This caused Hiccup to become more confused. Okay, something was _definitely_ off.

At first Hiccup was going to ask Astrid just how bad Will was and why he made her so upset. When Astrid grabbed her basketball from Stormfly's bag though, Hiccup couldn't bare to darken the way her face lit up. Yeah, Hiccup could ask her before he let her go home, but right now he just wanted time with Astrid.

 **(A/N) Here we are! I got this done in maybe around 45 minutes, that's new for me. Hope you like it!**


	18. I'll stay nearby

**(A/N) Finally back to updating! Also thanks to some reviewers, I happened to notice my grammar is NOT as good as it could or should be. Therefor in these next few chapters I promise I am working to improve it!**

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid played basketball for quiet a while. Once five PM came around they were both exhausted, sweaty, and hungry. "Here, I got lunch incase we were out late." Hiccup pulled some sandwich supplies out of the leather bag he got for Toothless, handing it to Astrid.

"You sure?" Astrid asked, not really wanting to use Hiccup for his money. Hiccup smiled warmly, laying a hand on Astrid's shoulder. "It's fine Milady. _Really."_ Astrid smiled, playfully nudging Hiccup in the ribs for being such a gentleman when they both knew he was a normal, sarcastic, 16 year old racer in reality.

Astrid and Hiccup made their ham and cheese sandwiches, sharing a bottle pop and lightly joking to each other. Hiccup watched as Astrid's face lit up when she joked around, and he secretly wondered if he'd ever get the chance to ask her about her home situation. The questions were eating at his mind and soul, but that was less painful than the thought of bringing Astrid down when she was in such a cheerful mood.

"So...wanna go walk by the lake? I'm sure the dragons would have the time of their lives getting some easy catches." Hiccup offered, standing up from the bench they had been sitting on. Toothless perked up at the mention of food, smiling his adorable night fury smile.

Astrid smiled to, taking Hiccup's hand. "Sure, that would be nice." Hiccup and Astrid walked to the docs over the lake, their dragon following close behind. They passed by the flowery meadow nearby, and took in the view of the forest the nearly circled around the entire park.

Toothless and Stormfly imediatly flew closer to the water. Hiccup and Astrid sat on a bench over the water. Hiccup lightly wrapped his arm around Astrid who leaned into his hold. A bit of fear encased Hiccup's mind as he thought about why he decided to come here instead of continue playing.

"Astrid...can I ask you about something?" Hiccup asked and Astrid looked up at him quickly. Her eyes were a little afraid, her expression slightly confused. Hiccup took note of her facial details, and knew Astrid had taken her own mental notes about the seriousness in his voice.

"Why were you so afraid when Will came looking for you?" Hiccup asked. For a moment, Astrid remained completely silent, the only sounds being the dragons catching their lunch. Hiccup squeezed her hand in an attempt to encourage the conversation, and Astrid sighed, her body relaxing a bit.

"I tried to stand up to him yelling at my mother. Of course I got hurt for protecting someone I loved. The most hurtful thing is my mom didn't care one bit. It's infuriating." Astrid balled her hands into fists. Hiccup quickly grabbed her hands, rubbing his thumbs over her knuckles. Astrid relaxed a bit to his touch.

"What do you mean he hurt you? Astrid the situation is starting to become physically abusive." Hiccup said gently, his hands still holding hers. Astrid chewed her lip, refusing to make eye contact. "You don't think I know that? Hiccup I can't turn Will in. My mom has said it herself, if I wind up making him leave because how 'rude' I am to him, then she won't bother even looking at me. I already lost my dad, I can't lost her too."

Hiccup moved his hands from Astrid's hands to her shoulders. He lightly rubbed the tension there, making Astrid relax and let her guard down a bit. Hiccup smiled, knowing she felt safe enough with him to let this happen.

"I get that. What about my first question?" Astrid looked down at her forearms, before slowly undoing her armbands. On both her forearms, just below her wrist, Astrid had purple-blue bruises. The bruises were large, and obviously made by a mans hand do to the shape.

Hiccup imediatly became worried. That worry was soon clouded by sadness. After that, the emotion of anger over took Hiccup. He protectively moved his hands from Astrid's shoulders to her waist, pulling her close and laying his chin on her shoulder like he usually did when trying to comfort both Astrid and himself.

"Astrid I can't let this go on." Astrid tried to yank away, but Hiccup held her firm. "Hiccup I'm not letting you rip my mother away from me!" Hiccup could hear Astrid's voice crack, and he imediatly let go. Rather than letting her stand up though, Hiccup pulled Astrid into a tight hug. Astrid buried her face in Hiccup's leather armor he wore on his tunic, taking a shuddering breath.

"I've been through worse Hiccup. Take school for example. You know how many fights I've been in right? It's just...it's different now. In my own home, with my mom who won't stop it. I know my mother is letting another man hurt me, but I just...I can't just let her go. I can't lose her too. I-I feel torn."

This exact conversation reminded Hiccup of a situation he was in just a few nights ago. Him and Jacob were talking and despite not realizing it at the time, Hiccup was torn between accepting the loss of his father and letting his foster dad in. He didn't want to lose his dad and wished to stay in the past. At the same time though, Hiccup was setting himself up to get hurt in the future.

Similar to how Jacob had soothed Hiccup, Hiccup was _not_ going to give up on Astrid. "Fine, I won't tell. Let me make sure you're safe alright? Why don't me and Toothless sleep near your house. No one needs to know, but if Will tries to pull something, _I'll_ be there to intervene."

Astrid nodded, a smile gracing her lips. "What about your parents though? What will they say?" Hiccup waved off the question, smiling warmly down at Astrid. "Eh they're used to me flying off. So...it's only evening. Want to go do something other than just sit here?"

Astrid smiled, hugging Hiccup closer. She thought of something, and pulled out a leather notebook she kept. "What's that?" Hiccup asked, curiosity managing to take over as he realized a fellow classmate kept a journal to.

"I have different dates and stuff in here and..." Astrid flipped to a page in the book titled 'dates to do' an odd title that only she understood. Tracing her finger across the paper, Hiccup realized what Astrid had planned for today.

"It's not really a big thing to most, but once a year I take something to my uncle Fins' grace. You know, so it's not covered in wilted flowers and molded notes." A small sad smile covered Astrid's face, and Hiccup attempted to comfort her.

"That would be a fine idea." His tone was quiet. "Is the gravesite near?" Astrid pulled up a map on her phone, pointing to an unnamed destination. It was a gravesite for downed soldiers or their families, but had no real name.

Hiccup suddenly sucked in a breath, but was able to regain his composure. Astrid saw through the fake smile though, and imediatly became worried. "What's wrong Hiccup?" Hiccups sighed, losing the brave face. "Nothing it's just...that's the same grave sight my father, a soldier of course, and my mother who was his family were..." Hiccup trailed off, and Astrid squeezed his hand.

"Maybe you could leave something to?" Hiccup pulled out of her grasp, his expression and the mood of the situation changing drastically. "It's just...Well I haven't exactly visited the sight ever since..." Astrid got what he meant event though Hiccup refused to finish the sentence.

"Well there's a first time for everything. I'm not going to push you into going Hiccup, but I know from experience that this _could_ potentially help you. I can tell it's still not an easy topic for you to talk about." Hiccup craved the gentleness in her voice, and was more than ecstatic he had a friend like Astrid.

"I...Sure, I'll go with you." Astrid could hear the hesitation in Hiccup's voice, but something in her told her that this was something Hiccup would be happy he did. Things like this just took time, as with all difficult life situations.

 **(A/N) There you go! To those reviewers who take note of how I write, could you please tell me this chapter has any real progress? Also I took note of how some of you wanted me to not separate the chapters into separate days as much so I made sure not to do that here. You're amazing! (Realized I was using your, and You're wrong to.)**


	19. Guys talk

**(A/N) Hey fellow readers! Wanted to give a quick apology to Athena48 for not moderating there reviews faster. To all my other guest reviewers who I can't reply to in PM messaging, thanks for reading along! On with the story!**

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid let their dragon catch fish in the lake a while longer. The sight was one to behold for sure. Toothless, who couldn't fly over the water on his own, would balance on small stones, attempting to multitask between not slipping and not losing the fish at the same time.

Stormfly on the other hand wasn't having to much of a challenge. She glided over the water, spearing the fish with her deadly Nadder tail spikes. Shooting the small fish in the water, Stormfly was nothing more than a colorful streak filling the empty air with happy squawks. She felt more free than she had in a long time.

Sitting by Hiccup who continued to hold her protectively, Astrid felt the same as her dragon. Free from her mother, free from school work, and free from being pressured to wearing a brave mask in front of all her other classmates. No Will, no gossiping teens, just Astrid, and Hiccup.

Hiccup on the other hand felt a bit more like _his_ dragon. Trying to juggle things all at once, becoming frustrated while trying figure out how to work this whole situation, and in all he found it hard to multitask his own thoughts about life and the ones about Astrid.

Eventually Hiccup decided the best option. At least in his mind. He couldn't focus on himself right now. Not his life thoughts, and not his own problems. Astrid was in a dangerous situation where she was more stuck than a Typhoomerang flying through a net of vines. She needed Hiccup there for her when no one else was.

And there for Astrid Hiccup would be. Pulling the teen in mind closer to him, Hiccup tried to comfort Astrid to the best of his ability. The girl was tense, obviously having to much on her plate. Hiccup knew the feeling. Having to juggle life, fend for yourself. When he was in that situation, Hiccup didn't even have time to think about his dad who was at war. He was focused on keeping himself and Toothless safe. Together they somehow managed though.

That's exactly how it would be with Astrid. Hiccup knew it. She was strong, brave, confident, and he was _never_ going to give up on her. She could get through this with Hiccup by her side. Hiccup just knew it would be hard always standing by her. Since when did he do things in a way that was anything but complicated though? If anything...this was kind of natural. Perhaps that's why Hiccup went through so much? So he could help people like Astrid?

Hiccup sighed. If this was true then the universe had a really cruel way of helping some men help others. Sure loss led to bonding with others of the same situation, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Why was the world so complicated? Hiccup guessed no one would ever know.

Feeling Astrid become jittery beside him, Hiccup knew they'd been sitting their so long she was finding it hard to keep still. Astrid was a sports girl after all, and was used to moving around, playing games, competing, ETC. Hiccup understood that despite how much she thanked him and found what he did sweet, Astrid still was her regular self. Unable to be stuck in romance or peacefulness to long. Just like other Hofferson's Hiccup had heard of in sports history (That's why Hofferson is such a well known name in the school) Astrid was just one of those people who needed something physical to do.

In all honesty Hiccup had no idea how much longer he could take Astrid's punches and playful shoves that were a result of her energy and communication methods. "So...wanna head to the grave sights before it gets to dark?" Hiccup asked.

Astrid nodded, standing up right away. It seemed she was more than exited to stand up and move around, tearing out of Hiccup's grasp the second she knew it wouldn't ruin the moment. Tightening her arm bands which covered her bruises, Astrid called for Stormfly.

Hiccup called for Toothless to, and both dragons flew or glided to their owners. Astrid put her basketball in Stormfly's saddle bag. Hiccup focused more on taking their lunch supplies and finding a bin to throw it away in. Once that was done, Hiccup and Astrid shared a hesitant look with each other, before taking off on their dragons to their next destination.

* * *

Night was coming around, the moon in the now darkened sky. Astrid led Hiccup to the grave sight, both of them landing at the exact same time. Standing beside Astrid, Hiccup tensed as he took the scenery in. Flowers were on graves, the ground was very well treated. Cloth hung on some of the graves, and a few small flags rested around the fenced in area.

Astrid held the note and flowers from her and her mother which were to replace the old ones on her Uncles grave. Hiccup stayed back as she did so, observing his surroundings. Suddenly Toothless sniffed a nearby headstone, curious for some odd reason about this particular one.

It had been so long since Hiccup came here. He hardly stayed more than twenty minutes into his fathers funeral, and at the time was to numb inside to remember anything. Hiccup had never visited his mothers grave ever since his father started leaving more often when he was around five or six, leaving him with a baby sitter.

Now here he was though, and as Hiccup further inspected the headstone Toothless was sniffing, realization hit him. Toothless wasn't interested in the _headstone._ He was curious about the war helmet and folded cape which hung from the top right corner of it.

Astrid backed away from her Uncles grave, when she realized Hiccup's state. Frozen, lost, sad, and confused. Standing beside the boy, Astrid examined the headstone Toothless was sniffing. She saw the pin on the folded cape matched the one Hiccup wore on his leather armor.

"Hiccup...is that-" "Yeah. Yeah it is." Astrid took Hiccup's hand tightly in hers, not exactly knowing how to react. Hiccup read the engraved writing on the headstone. Memories began to flood his mind. _Stoick the vast. A hero to his country, a father, a friend._ How Hiccup remembered the knot in his stomach as Gobber spoke those words about his partner in the battle.

Suddenly footsteps were heard nearby. Hiccup and Astrid looked up, the dark grave sight making it impossible to see who was walking. An enemy? A criminal? Grave robber? Should they get out of here? Or hide in the shadows of the night as clouds covered the moon?

Toothless and Stormfly growled as the dark shadow figure approached. Hiccup let go of Astrid's hand, standing in front of her. His father had always taught him to be on guard. To protect those around him. To never expect simple answers to frightening questions.

Just as the slow footsteps caused to much suspense to sit still, the figure emerged, showing his face. "Wh-what are you guys doing here?" A quiet, cracked voice asked. Hiccup examined the young mans face, and realized this was none other than Snotlout.

"Snotlout! You scared the living-" "O-okay Astrid calm down." Hiccup winced, cutting Astrid off. Gods he did _not_ want to hear her...wide vocabulary at this very moment. "There's probably a good reason he snuck up on us. So Snotlout, what can we do for you?"

Snotlout bit his bottom lip, turning his back on the two. Hiccup imediatly went from tense to confused. He knew something was going on. Something causing Snotlout to be weaker than he was. The boy obviously didn't want to be seen as mushy.

"Snotlout? Why don't we go talk elsewhere? Astrid can stay here and watch the dragons. Right Astrid?" Hiccup turned to Astrid who, despite being a bit frustrated, agreed. Not many people in their school were fans of Snotlout Jorgensen.

Toothless and Stormfly stayed with Astrid. Hiccup and Snotlout walked out of the gravesite and down the rocky dirt road. Silence drifted between them, before Hiccup knew he needed to break the ice. Stopping beside Snotlout under a large tree covered in icicles, Hiccup made the other teen face him.

"Common Snotlout what's going on? I can tell something's up." Snotlout just pulled away from Hiccup, balling his hands into fists. "How would you know anything?!" He snapped, obviously not used to having someone just have a talk with him.

"I have experience in hiding emotions." Hiccup said simply, putting his hands in his pockets. Snotlout raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised Hiccup didn't snap back. He was met with curious, patient eyes. "I uh...I thought you and Astrid were someone else like you did me. Just checking things out is all." Hiccup was glad Snotlout was talking, but knew he was sparing him the hole truth.

"Okay..." Hiccup trailed off, casually leaning against the tree. "What?" Snotlout snapped, seeming uncomfortable. "You saw me and Astrid so decided to investigate. Why were you at the grave site in the first place though? Not really a great vacation spot if you ask me." Hiccup replied, his voice so casual it was odd yet comforting. He didn't sound like he was interrogating Snotlout, but didn't sound like they were having some buddy talk either.

"I well...why were _you_ here?" Snotlout decided to change the topic. Hiccup tensed a little, but remained casual. He was used to getting people to talk, it was just a talent. After all when he was younger, Hiccup always needed a way to get around. When he was around twelve and his father was away, the boy had to watch himself at night wile his baby sitter wasn't around. He had to shop for himself and so fourth. If people ever got in his way or tried to question his ability to raise himself, Hiccup would always find a way to make the conversation seem like nothing, allowing him to walk away with others questioning his adult like nature.

"I was here for the same reason many people come here Snotlout. Not all soldiers survive the war, but it's still a comfort to visit loved ones' graves every now and then. Don't you think?" Snotlout tensed, and Hiccup stood up from the tree. He relaxed a little, a warm look taking over his expression.

Snotlout looked down at his hands. Hiccup realized one of them was covered in bleeding scratches. Taking a step closer to the teen, Hiccup took the injured left hand in his own. "What happened?" Snotlout didn't pull away, chewing his lip.

"I was in a fight with my father. He doesn't like me coming here, and I had a vase I'd made in art that I was bringing to someone. I know, I know. Pottery, notes, mushy visits to someone who's not even alive...it's not something you'd expect from a football player and Jorgensen. You don't understand though..." Snotlout trailed off, losing the inspiration to speak.

Hiccup had some ideas about the scratches, and held Snotlout's oversized hand tighter. Remaining stern but warm, Hiccup looked down at the slightly shorter fellow classmate. "Maybe I don't understand your position Snotlout. What I do understand though is what it's like to have to fill big shoes. Just because people expect so highly of you shouldn't mean you can't be your own person. What happened to the vase?" Hiccup tried to push the conversation without making Snotlout back off completely.

"Like I said before, I was fighting my dad. I got so mad that I slammed my fist on the table. The vase shattered in my hand." Snotlout pulled a piece of broken pottery from his pocket. On this particular piece was the word 'mom'. Realization suddenly hit Hiccup.

"Who were you visiting here?" Snotlout frowned, not making eye contact. "Thought the broken glass was enough. It was my mother, okay. My dad despised her. She divorced him when I was little. Mom always acted like she loved me, but she didn't love my dad. She was married to another man, a veteran, and had my half brother who died during child birth. She had my brother just two months after her husband died. After the death of her son, she wasn't able to make it either and all three of them were buried here."

There was an angry tone to Snotlout's voice, and the boy shook as he spoke. Hiccup listened though. He didn't judge, didn't question why Snotlout was opening up like this now, and to him. The teen was never like this. Hiccup knew Snotlout needed _someone_ though. Judging by how much he shook and how angry he sounded, Snotlout obviously had to much weight on his shoulders for his own good.

"So you loved your mom, but your dad..." "Yeah. I still do love her! That's the problem Hiccup! My dad hates her, even after she hit the grave. How can I live with someone who hates the woman I love the most?" Hiccup sighed, slumping his shoulders.

"Can't say I can put myself in your shoes, but I know it's like to lose a mother who had a bad history. It's just something you've got to get through Snotlout." Hiccup explained, putting a hand on the boys' shoulder. Snotlout sighed, shrugging him off.

"I guess. Let's just...drop the conversation. Okay? I think I've had enough emotional conversations to last me a while." Hiccup smiled, nodding in understanding. "I get it. Shall we head back?" Snotlout nodded, managing a tiny smile.

As they walked back to meet Astrid, Snotlout suddenly remembered something. "Hey I forgot to tell you the other day, but there's something you should know." Hiccup now listened carefully, curiosity taking over. "What might that be?" He asked.

"I have a Nightmare at home, fastest one you ever saw. His name's Hookfang, awesome I know. I finally managed the money to get the supplies, and you can expect me in your next race." A giant smile graced Hiccup's lips.

"You sure your up for it?" Hiccup said, playfully competitive. "The tracks can be pretty dangerous." Snotlout shrugged it off, remaining confident. "I don't know if I can beat you and Toothless-just because it's my first race of course-but I'm planning on getting top three." Hiccup laughed, extending a hand.

"I'll see you there then." Snotlout nodded, shaking his hand. Pretty soon they both found Astrid who was grooming Stormfly. "What took you guys so long?" She asked. Hiccup shrugged, walking towards Toothless. "Guy talk. Hey Snotlout, need a ride home?" Snotlout raised a hand, shaking his head.

"Nah, I don't really want to head home at the moment." Hiccup and Astrid understood, saying their goodbyes. First they headed to Hiccup's house who told Magnus and Jacob he was staying near the Hofferson's for important reasons. The parents were hesitant, but agreed.

"You sure your okay with me coming with you? I don't want to chance getting you into trouble if your not okay with it." Hiccup asked, laying a hand on Astrid's shoulder. "It's okay Hiccup. Really." That's all Hiccup needed to hear, and within minutes they were back in the skies.

 **(A/N) Sorry for late update, and as for any grammar or mistakes, I must admit I'm writing with a stomach flue so i'm really tired. I promise if people say there are mistakes in the reviews, I'll go back and edit this along with some of my others once this story is done. It's just going to take a while. Also I'm thinking of changing the title from 'Racing to the light' to 'Not all soldiers survive the war' because that's a big topic in this story. Let me know what you think in the reviews!**


	20. The world is crazy

**(A/N) OMG Yay it's almost done! I've got this chapter with Will and Hiccup spending the night and everything, then next chapter is his big race and it's done! Rather I will do a sequel or not is up to the reviewers and my overactive imagination.**

Hiccup and Astrid flew to the Hofferson household, seeing all the lights were off. This made sense because it _was_ Monday and almost midnight. Hiccup and Astrid landed in their tree beside Astrid's window, their dragons grasping the branches above them.

Trying to balance in a standing position on the oversized tree limbs, Hiccup took Astrid's hands in his. "Toothless and I will stay up here. I've spent many nights out with him with as a shield so don't worry. If anything happens, call for me or send Stormfly alright? I'm not going to let him hurt you again." Hiccup said, pulling Astrid into a tight hug.

"If I call you then he'll possibly try to kill you for spying on his house Hiccup. The guys a bully, but for some reason won't let any other guys near me. I swear he's got something wrong in the head. Besides, what will happen if he hurts you? What will I do then?" Astrid held him tightly, bombarding the teen with questions.

Hiccup took a second to think. He'd never heard Astrid this desperate and confuse before, and in all honesty it made him more confused than she was. "Astrid if anything happens to me that's my fault okay? I'll stand by you. Your safety matter more than mine. I know you don't want to upset your mom, but if he physically hurts one of us again that's a second assault on child abuse." Astrid tried to relax as he spoke.

"If something happened...what if she-" "Astrid I get it, you love your mother, but sometimes you have to worry about your own safety to." Hiccup spoke in a stern tone Astrid wasn't used to him using. She pulled back from the him, nodded slowly.

Astrid climbed onto her window sill, Stormfly deciding to spend the night in her riders bedroom. Hiccup climbed onto the sill to, sitting on the edge wile Astrid entered her room. Astrid chuckled when Hiccup gripped the window tightly when he tilted to far to the left.

"Your going to fall off of that you know." She said and Hiccup just gave her one of his goofy grins. "I'm one for taking chances. Come here." Astrid walked closer to him, and Hiccup landed a gentle kiss on her forehead, pulling back with a content sigh.

"You've got me Astrid. You always will." With that Hiccup stood up in the window, jumping onto the tree limb. Toothless caught him by the back of his fur vest when he slipped, lifting Hiccup up like a baby dragon by the scruff of the neck. After Toothless sniffed his rider to check for injuries, which Hiccup was perfectly used to having been around the dragon more often than people, they both climbed higher in the tree and out of sight.

Astrid watched as Hiccup left into the dark, shaded leaves, sighing in relief that he was there. She had someone watching over her, and that was something Astrid never really had ever since her Uncles death. Never had she had a man take care of her after that, and her mother well... _Astrid_ was the one taking care of her.

Sure she was sixteen years old and didn't exactly need her parents to watch over her or hold her when she was sad or upset, but Astrid felt lighter knowing someone was making sure she stayed safe. It was a foreign feeling, but was welcomed with relief and happiness.

Moving her blankets to the side, Astrid climbed into bed after changing into her night tank top which qualified for pajamas. She kicked off her long fur boots, snuggling into the covers. Stormfly slept soundly beside the bed, making small sounds in her sleep.

Astrid found the tiny squeaks and squawks relaxing, and they allowed her eyes to drift closed peacefully. Will normally had a talk with her when she would get home late like this, but for some reason he seemed to have gone to sleep before Astrid got home. What a relief that was.

Or...so she thought. Astrid had tried to make as little noise as possible when she climbed in through the window, but after Stormfly squawked rather loudly in her sleep, someone seemed to have taken notice of her presence.

Footsteps were heard on the stairs case, and Astrid gasped when a dark shadow entered her room. He walked closer to her, hands balled into fists. "Do you have any idea how badly you worried your mother?! She's stressed to sickness and it's _your_ fault."

Typical of Will. Loved Astrid's mother, hated Astrid. A gasp escaped the teen in minds mouth, and for a second she thought of shouting for Hiccup. That thought quickly faded though. Astrid was independent, a fighter. She wasn't going to let him get introuble unless absolutely necessary.

Standing up and pulling on her long sleeve vest which was next to her bed, Astrid approached Will. "It's not my fault she's sick." Astrid kept her voice low, venom seeming to drip from her tongue. Will was taken back a bit, slightly scared of Astrid like he should've been.

The man recovered though, and took a step closer. "Maybe not, but _your_ the one who's making her worse. If your going to keep leaving like this, then maybe you should just stay away." Astrid smirked, taking on a sassy stance.

"Hate to break it to you _Will._ " She stressed the word, her voice making him even more angry. "But unlike you, my mother is capable of loving. She doesn't solve things by getting rid of people like you do. I would shut this down right now if I were you, because I have physical proof that can send you back to the jail you came from." Astrid undid her arm band, showing Will the bruises.

Will was taken back, but then smirked menacingly. "Oh sweat little girl." Now it was Astrid's turn to feel infuriated because his taunting tone. "We both know your not going to call anyone. Your far to prideful, and wouldn't want your mother abandoning you. Just like you father eh?"

Astrid bit her lip, shaking in rage. She kept her composure as much as possible, her fists staying at her sides. Stormfly woke up, squawking threateningly at Will. Her tail was raised and her spines showing. "Stormfly no!" Astrid shouted, running to her dragon and scratching her chin.

"You can't hurt him baby girl. Dragons can't be used as weapons. They'll _kill_ you." Stormfly relaxed a bit, not daring to risk death. Not particularly because she cared, but because the dragon wasn't going to be torn away from her rider, leaving Astrid to be alone in her family situation.

"Heh, lizard lover." Astrid turned back to Will, her fists still tense. Suddenly Will approached her, and Astrid took a step back. She wanted to swing at him, wanted to hurt him. Astrid knew that if this happened though, Will would exaggerate it and make her mother think Astrid was to dangerous to be in the home.

"What are you doing?" Astrid snapped, attempting to make her stern tone enough. Will grabbed her arm, yanking her into the wall. Astrid let out a screech of pain, cursing herself for letting her guard down. "Letting you know who's boss around here." He raised his fist, but suddenly a naisaly, strong, infuriated voice came from the window. "What...do you think...your doing." His words spaced out, his expression full of hatred.

"Hiccup." Astrid breathed the word, worry filling her eyes. Will threw Astrid to the ground, smirking at Hiccup. "I could ask you the same thing. What do you think your doing in _my_ house brat." He asked. Hiccup jumped down from the window sill, Toothless unseen in the shadows.

"Protecting the girl who you should be _caring_ for. Not bullying." Hiccup balled his fists, matching Wills every move as they moved towards Astrid, both wanting to be closer to her. "I see, protecting your lady huh? You do know high school relationships never work right?"

Hiccup smirked wile shrugging his shoulders. "That's only because the immaturity levels of most teens in my school. You should know I've been through enough to be among the more advanced kids in my age." Hiccup practically growled, managing to stand in front of Astrid with a protective stance.

Astrid tried to stand up, but she soon fell, realizing her ankle was badly sprained from the fall. "Weakling." Will spat at her. Hiccup became mad now, finding it hard to keep his voice low. "Astrid is _not_ weak. She's been through more than most kids her age. And yet...she's able to stay the kind, special, strong, selfless worrier she is. Unlike you who grew up thinking that bully from high school is still who you are. What you don't realize is that charges could be pressed, and you could be in some serious trouble." Hiccup half taunted, half reasoned.

Will didn't like it. He bit his lip, and despite the slight fear that came with some of Hiccup's words, the man threw the first punch. Hiccup doubled over as the air escaped from his lungs, Will's fist colliding with his torso. Suddenly the roar of a night fury echoed through the walls of the room, and Toothless jumped in, pinning Will to the ground.

"Damn you." Hiccup cursed the man and tried to stand up, holding his likely cracked rib tightly. Toothless imediatly heard the pain in his riders voice, and sprung to Hiccup's side. Sniffing the boy all over, Toothless sensed the tension in Hiccup's torso as he tried to stand in a way that didn't hurt his rib as much.

Will was to stunned to get up, and Toothless had left a pretty bad scratch on his leg. Astrid got up with the support of her night stand, wrapping her arms around Hiccup. "Hiccup! Oh Gods I'm so sorry." Astrid's voice cracked, and guilt flooded her expression.

"It's not your fault Astrid, but remember I'm not leaving you. The more you hold back from getting justice on Will, the more times we're going to be in this situation." Astrid looked down, confusion racking her brain. She saw the hidden pain in Hiccup's voice, and her eyes drifted to Will's bleeding leg.

Suddenly someone shouted downstairs. Astrid and Hiccup recognized it to be Ms. Hofferson. She couldn't get up the stairs without help do to her wheelchair, but Astrid knew she was upset about being woken up. Hiccup looked down at Astrid, waiting for an answer.

"I'll go talk to her." Hiccup nodded, taking Toothless so he could hang out outside in the tree. Stormfly made sure Will didn't move, her breathing ragged with rage. Will laid their, silent. Hiccup knew this didn't teach him a lesson though, for fury still filled his eyes.

* * *

Officers were heard downstairs, followed by Will's shouted of fury. Hiccup stood in Astrid's room wile another Officer questioned them. Astrid stood in Hiccup's arms, sadness flooding over her as tears stung her eyes but refused to leave.

Astrid's mother was infuriated with Astrid, and told the officers her daughter was no longer welcome in the home. The police had tried to reason with her, but it became clear that the woman's physical and mental illness combined with rage and exhaustion had changed her. She didn't think of Astrid as her own anymore.

Hiccup tried his best to ignore the pain in his rib, caring only about Astrid. Magnus and Jacob had decided to come over after Hiccup called them, and they stood near the young couple with sorrow and worry. Hiccup looked at them from the corner of his eye, feeling slightly better when he noticed their worry for both him and Astrid.

The police eventually left, Ms. Hofferson refusing to take any of their offers concerning places for her to stay do to her health. Astrid was still to live with her mother, but Magnus and Jacob insisted she could come over to stay any time she needed.

That night Astrid slept on the couch across from Magnus and Jacobs room, a wrap and ice around her foot. Hiccup was to stay on bed rest, his rib needing to heal. The doctors insisted he stay at the hospital, but Hiccup said he could stay home to heal. After all the doctors really couldn't do much more than keep him still and calm his pain.

Hiccup slept on his bottom bunk, confused as to how much things had changed in so short of a time. Jacob being closer to him, Magnus treating him like a son, the twins and Fishlegs acting like his siblings, Astrid becoming the love of his life, helping Snotlout through his problems...the world was a crazy place that one was for sure. Maybe things would lighten up though. Maybe.

 **(A/N) This is the second to last chapter! Final chapter is just going to be a time jump of Hiccup's race against Snotlout, Heather, and a few other OC racers with his family and Astrid supporting him. Please review!**


	21. Racing to the light

**Time Jump. Hiccup's race.**

The wind blew through Hiccup's hair, and he was once again neck and neck with Heather. Toothless kept his concentration, moving through the hanging obstacles on the course with ease. Hiccup tried to stay ahead of Heather, Snotlout hot on their tail. He wasn't kidding when he said Hookfang was fast.

A few other racers were a bit further behind, one of them having trouble getting through the course because the size of his whispering death. That was fun to watch, and had the crowd laughing with joy when the rider realized he wasn't going to win and instead turned it into a comedy. "I'm okay!" He'd shout to the audience when him and his dragon would miss an obstacle. At least he attention.

"How are they going to make it? That Razorwhip has incredible maneuverability." Fishlegs said from the audience, biting his nails. "He'll make it. He's Hiccup!" Astrid shouted to the boy, nudging his rib. "Wow, I can't get enough of this comedian guy." Tuffnut said wile laughing.

"Oh common Tuff! Your not even watching Hiccup race which is what we're here for. This'll be his 50th win!" Ruffnut shouted. It was true. Hiccup had been professionally racing for a couple year now, but only a few of the races of the season were considered official races. All the other ones Hiccup went to were because people were trying to beat his winning streak and wanted to have maybe five or six people races. Some were just one on one.

This race though, was his 50th professional official race. It was also his 50th win, Hiccup never losing once. The crowds were nearly multiplied by two, everyone who was a fan of racing eager to see if Hiccup could beat this race. Their were twenty racers instead of ten, and news teams were everywhere.

"He'll make it. He's got to! The kids a natural!" Jacob shouted. Magnus couldn't help but laugh, seeing the concentration and suspense on her husbands face. He may be in his fifties, but Jacob could watch these races like he was a teenager watching his favorite movie final. The man was eager to see this races end, and talked about Hiccup more as a professional he idled rather than the boy who lived under his roof.

"I agree Jacob. Your way to into this you know that? I'm worried your going to have a heart attack." Magnus said Jokingly, laying a hand on his shoulder. Jacob simply shrugged her hand off, his chin on his hands as he leaned forward. It was almost as if the man thought he could get closer to the racers by leaning over the seats.

Hiccup and Toothless flew high above one of the longer obstacles rather than going under it like the other racers. Using their height to their advantage, Toothless and Hiccup dove down. Toothless spread his wings, a whistling sound echoing through the track as the both glided at incredible speed, stopping their fall around 130 feet in front of Heather which wasn't to much considering how fast the Razorwhip was.

Suddenly Hiccup made the mistake of looking behind him, and him along with Toothless hit a part of an obstacle. Everyone in the crowd gasped as dragon and rider slowed down dramatically, Hiccup leaning forward in the saddle dazed.

"Should we get someone to help him?" One of the race monitors asked. "I don't know. If a racer is injured they usually land safely. I don't know if he's to dazed, or just wants to keep going." The other said, watching Hiccup with worry.

About ten other racers past Hiccup, and Toothless wobbled as Hiccup tried to get his foot back in the stirrup. The crash had caused his foot to slip out and bend the medal, meaning his leg couldn't fit back in so easily. The clock was ticking, other racers approaching the finish line.

"No." Astrid said with her hands over her mouth. Fishlegs shook in anticipation, the twins froze, Magnus looked more worried for Hiccup than anything, and Jacob watched on with wide eyes, clutching his wife's hand tightly.

 _Common. Common!_ Hiccup thought. Everything around him was blurry as his head still recovered from the crash. His foot slipped over and over again as he tried to place it back in the stirrup. Finally Hiccup reached down, taking the risk of hitting something.

He moved the stirrup connected to the prosthetic tail against his foot, pushing the bent prosthetic into the medal with extra force. Regaining his footing, Hiccup sat back up and pet Toothless' head. "I'm letting you take the reins bud." He said.

Hiccup let Toothless take control. He didn't think about anything else, didn't see the course, didn't hear the crowd. All he thought about was making sure he followed his dragons' every move. Toothless got through the obstacles with a burst of speed, feeling his riders determination.

Flying as a blur to the crowd, the past racer after racer. People gasp surprised as Hiccup and Toothless past them. Hiccup held the reins tightly, leaning so far against Toothless to gain speed that his chest was only an inch from his dragons neck.

Toothless roared loudly, and Hiccup continued moving his foot the perfect way. He move to the side, ducked, and picked up speed exactly as Toothless wanted him to. Hiccup didn't even see the finish line, he only concentrated every part of his mind and body to his dragon.

Finally passing heather by only two feet, Hiccup and Toothless passed the finish line and everyone in the audience stood up with exited shouts and laughter. "Told you he could do it!" Jacob shouted, standing up and kissing his wife who laughed with a yelp of surprise.

"Yeah!" Astrid laughed more than she had in a wile, throwing her fists in the air. "I don't know how much more of these I can take." Fishlegs said with a gasp as he released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Woo hoo! You did it H.!" Tuffnut shouted which confused Ruffnut. "I thought you didn't like him." She asked and Tuffnut shrugged. "He's growing on me."

Hiccup and Toothless laughed in joy, Hiccup gasping for air as excitement overflowed through him. His vision was finally clearing up, though a long red cut was on his arm. Hiccup flew back to the stables where his family was, allowing one of the race monitors to look him over for injuries, but finding nothing more than a nasty bump and the cut on his arm.

Just as Hiccup's arm was wrapped and a piece of ice given to him for his head, Astrid was the first to run into him. "You did it Hiccup!" She shouted with laughter, Hiccup quickly returning the embrace. "Wow, that was one heck of a race." Jacob said as him, Magnus, the twins, and Fishlegs all stepped in. Snotlout also landed Hookfang, walking up to them. "I have no idea how you did that. You've to teach us." He said and Hiccup nodded enthusiastically.

"I'll try my best." Hiccup told Snotlout before looking down at Astrid. He caught her lips with his, both of them sharing a deep kiss. Once they pulled apart, Magnus, Jacob, and Fishlegs were all smirking. Snotlout and the twins stood there surprised.

"And you said it wasn't a date." Fishlegs said while him and Hiccup shared a laugh, remembering that conversation that happened so long ago. The twins and him ran into Hiccup as well as Astrid. "Group hug!" Jacob shouted childishly, crushing Hiccup and Astrid more than they already were. Magnus doubled over laughing, Snotlout joining the hug as well.

Suddenly Toothless and Stormfly ran into them, and decided to give the group their version of a hug. "Woah!" Everyone shouted as the dragons knocked them over, squishing them against the ground. "Toothless! We talked about this!" Toothless gave his night fury laugh, him and Stormfly moving from away from the now flattened hug.

Everyone groaned while standing up, and Hiccup smiled while looking at his family. Yep, this was his family. Not his father, not his original home, and not his hero's from the war. This didn't mean they weren't close though, and Hiccup knew that with the help of Magnus, Jacob, Snotlout, Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and most of all his best bud Toothless, nothing could ever stop him from Racing to the light!

 **(A/N) Yep, super cheesy ending, but I don't care! I'm keeping the title Racing to the light because it fits the ending. Your amazing! And please stay tuned for my next adventures I write. Your amazing fellow dragon riders!**


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